FORGET FAKE LEGS!THEY'RE NOW IMPORTING REAL LEGS AND OTHER BODY PARTS FOR BOMB BLAST EXPERIMENT. THE QUESTION HOWEVER IS WHOSE LEGS AND BODY PARTS ARE THEY COLLECTING....
Human remains are being used in secretive weapons tests funded by the sale of Remembrance Sunday poppies.
Legs,
feet and possibly other body parts are being imported from America and
destroyed in the gruesome experiments, paid for by £5 million from Royal
British Legion coffers.
The
controversial tests have been conducted for four years – and now take
place at a laboratory officially opened by Prince Harry last year.
Body parts are being imported from
America and destroyed in the experiments - paid for by the sale of
Remembrance Sunday popppies
Tests at the Royal British Legion
Centre for Blast Injury Studies are intended to lead to improvements in
military equipment and help troops injured in Afghanistan
However
the use of imported limbs has been kept secret until now. The Mail on
Sunday has established that limbs are regularly transported to the test
centre at Imperial College, Central London, but both the Royal British
Legion (RBL) and the university refused to answer key questions
including:
- Whether donors or their loved ones agreed specifically for the body parts to be used in military tests.
- How many, and what particular, body parts have been used.
- Who supplies the human remains and at what price.
Last
night, Shadow Universities Minister Liam Byrne said he would demand
answers in Parliament about where the imported body parts came from. He
said: ‘This is vital research but it has got to be conducted to
world-class standards. That means proper transparency so the public know
what they’re funding. Our soldiers need the world’s best protection and
the world’s best treatment.’
Tests
conducted at the Royal British Legion Centre for Blast Injury Studies
(CBIS) are intended to lead to improvements in military equipment.
The
limbs are used to assess the impact of weapons such as the improvised
explosive devices which have killed and wounded hundreds of UK troops in
Afghanistan.
Professor Anthony Bull (pictured) heads the blast injury unit at Imperial College in London
Prince
Harry officially opened the centre last year after the RBL – which
hopes to raise £40million from the Poppy Appeal – donated £5 million,
with Imperial College committing another £3 million. The research is
conducted by 30 military and civilian experts in bio-engineering and
bio-mechanics.
In
the UK the use of body parts in research is strictly regulated by the
Human Tissue Authority. The law says that remains sourced in Britain
must come with the full consent of donors or their loved ones that they
can be used in scientific research. But the code of practice states no
such consent need be obtained if the material has been imported – saying
only that it is ‘good practice to ensure mechanisms are in place in the
source country for obtaining consent’.
Although
Imperial College says it abides by all regulations on consent and
ethical requirements, the university has refused to declare where its
body parts come from. It has admitted some remains are sourced from US
companies but will not name the suppliers – making it impossible for
this newspaper to establish whether donors were made aware that their
body parts would be used in military tests.
Last
night US donor expert Chris Truitt, who campaigns for improved rights
for those who donate body parts, said: ‘Many families in America would
be horrified to know that entire body parts were being sent to the UK to
be blown up in a lab.
‘It
is the fact that families don’t know that makes it horrific. In the US
families just sign off on tissue donation for research purposes but have
no idea what actually happens to their loved ones’ remains.’
Imperial College has said it abides by
all regulations on consent and ethical requirements, but the university
has refused to declare where its body parts come from
The
centre’s website states that it uses ‘human tissue’ in experiments but
only when pressed did a spokesman explain that body parts were used,
some of which are imported.
As
a result of The Mail on Sunday’s investigation, MPs on the House of
Commons Health Select Committee are to probe the conduct of the centre.
Committee member Barbara Keeley MP said: ‘I shall be asking questions
about what can be done to ensure transparency about practices at this
centre.’
An
Imperial College spokesman said: ‘It is not relevant whether tissue
used comes from donors in the UK, Europe or the US as long as all
regulatory, consent and ethical requirements are met. All human tissue
used in the course of the research has been donated to medical science
with full informed consent by either the donor or their relatives.’
A
Royal British Legion spokesman said the centre ‘exists to improve and
advance treatment, rehabilitation and recovery after blast injury.’ He
confirmed that the charity had granted £5 million to fund the centre for
six years, and would review the situation after that.
The Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health declined to comment.
A
research department at Imperial College has agreed to source body parts
from a US company linked to the illegal trade in human remains in
Eastern Europe.
RTI
Surgical will supply human tendons to scientists working on ways to
improve surgical treatment for patients with joint injuries.
Imperial
College and the Royal British Legion insisted this project has nothing
to do with the tests conducted at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies.
In
2012, it was claimed that RTI Surgical was sourcing tissue from morgues
in Ukraine where documents relating to the deceased were forged. In one
morgue investigators found dozens of corpses stripped of all their
reusable parts; while authorities intercepted a minibus crammed with
bones and tissue believed to be heading for a factory ultimately owned
by Florida-based RTI, one of the world’s leading suppliers of body
parts.
Last
night the company confirmed it ceased all operations in Ukraine
following the reports, adding that it complies with relevant laws
regarding consent wherever it operates.
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