Anatomical material and anatomical procurement 1954‐1959

During the last 5 years attitudes favoring constructive alterations in statutes and procedures governing the supply of cadav-ers have been in evidence. A symposium conducted in 1954 at the Galveston, Texas, meeting of the American Association of Anatomists provided for an interchange of opinions and methods, and a survey presented at that symposium furnished factual information. The symposium, reported in the Proceedings of the Association (Anat. Rec., 120: 158-165), made it evident that anatomists were dealing with archaic laws in many states and were hindered in their efforts at cadaver procurement by social welfare laws and agencies , by illegitimate claimants, and by adverse popular attitudes. Favorable reports were made in the symposium, however , by those reporting frank discussions with institutional superintendents, and by those who were soliciting donations of bodies after death. It was hoped that the symposium would serve as a stimulus toward constructive efforts in the development of better anatomical laws and the use of favorable publicity. It is gratifying that a much more favorable report can be made in 1959. In preparation for the Conference on the Legal Environment of Medical Science sponsored and organized by the National Society for Medical Research and the University of Chicago, brief replies were solicited from anatomists in the spring of 1959. Such replies gave information on changes in anatomical procurement visa -vis 1954, new or improved anatomical laws, laws providing for donation or willing of bodies, and an assessment of the " yield " from donations. An analysis of cadaver supplies by schools was reported in the Bulletin of the National Society for Medical Research in 1955. This study showed supplies shrinking in 31 schools, fairly constant (and generally considered adequate) in 35 schools, and improved at 11 schools. Striking improvement in the situation is reflected in the replies from anatomists in 1959, where supplies were reported shrinking in only 5 states, fairly constant (and generally considered adequate) in 20 states and improved in 14 states. The reader will note that the 1955 survey was based on 77 schools and the 1959 check on 39 states. The figures are brought into approximate equivalence if those for schools are divided by 2. The result can be expressed in the following table. Supplies shrinking 15 5 adequate) 18 20 Supply fairly constant (and generally considered Supply improved 6 14 It is apparent that these figures, differently gathered and differently reported, …