The Head of Medicine has issued a warning to students and staff in Trinity to consider the ethical implications of attending the controversial ‘Bodies’ exhibition which opened recently in Dublin.
The Head of Medicine has issued a warning to students and staff in Trinity to consider the ethical implications of attending the controversial ‘Bodies’ exhibition which opened recently in Dublin.
Meanwhile medicine, physiology, and occupational therapy students have snapped up free tickets to the exhibition from the Students’ Union. SU President Cathal Reilly admitted that 120 tickets were freely distributed to the students.
It emerged last year that some of the bodies used at the exhibition – which has attracted some 11 million visitors – were unidentified and unclaimed. An investigation carried out by the New York Attorney General stopped this practice. During the investigation, allegations made by advocacy groups and media reports had suggested that some of the bodies on exhibit were Chinese prisoners who were executed. The exhibition still includes the remains of foetuses which were obtained without the consent of the next-of-kin.
Professor Dermot Kelleher, Head of Medicine and Dr Paul Glacken, Head of Anatomy, sent an email to all students and staff in Trinity’s Faculty of Health Sciences asking professionals and students to “reflect on the ethical implications of attending this exhibition”. The email states “the company running it could not demonstrate the causes of death of the individuals dissected nor establish that they consented to their remains being used in this manner”. The email also contains links to two articles strongly criticising the exhibition.
The SU were given tickets for Natural Sciences students by the promoters in advance of the event. Cathal Reilly said “there was a very high level of interest so they were all taken up. The Students’ Union didn’t have a stance on it. We were simply given the tickets to distribute and we did. I’m not going myself”. Mr. Reilly also claimed that some medicine students were in fact having specific lectures about anatomy in the exhibition itself.
Trinity is not the only educational instution to express concern with the exhibition. The Joint Managerial Body for Secondary Schools in Ireland urged “schools not to support such a questionable commercial activity”.
Professor Peter Dockery, Head of the Anatomy Department in Galway also expressed his concerns on the exhibit. “Professional anatomists train people in the medical and allied health sciences and have a duty to instill respect for the human body. Anatomically prepared material is not, and should not, be treated as mere entertainment nor as a source of private income.”
However, Cheryl Mure, director of education for the show’s operator Premier Exhibitions defended the educational and ethical merit of the exhibition. “We’ve done due diligence, working closely with our partners, and we stand firm and are 100 per cent comfortable with the origins of the specimens”.
Jelena Ivanovic, a Masters Neuroscience student said “I personally won’t be attending. I’m all for body exploration and fully acknowledge the important role that anatomy has in physiological-based sciences. However, consent is fundamental in all scientific research, and in this day and age, where ethics are ever influencing how scientists conduct themselves, I question how condoning an exhibition like this is justified. I personally question how Ireland, as an EU member can agree to host this.”
