Why would a Lucknow medical college take bodies from Sirsa?

Human bodies donated for medical studies are usually transported to the medical college concerned within the first six hours of the death.

Sirsa (Haryana) falls about 12 to 14 hours from Lucknow by road. Hence, in a new twist to the GCRC cadaver row, experts are raising eyebrows over the fact that a medical college in Lucknow got bodies from Sirsa for its students. “We accept body donation from a maximum distance of 200 kilometres,” said Prof Navneet Kumar, HoD, anatomy at the King George’s Medical University.

He said before keeping the body for long, there was a process to be followed. “Can’t comment whether or not they did proper body embalming before transporting it here but if they did not, then the fact that rigor mortis starts in the body about six hours after death will make it difficult for use of medical studies,” said Prof Navneet.

Why would a college take bodies from so far and why should Dera provide body to a medical college in Lucknow when there are colleges in Haryana that can be reached in 4 to 5 hours are questions that remain to be answered.

MEDICAL EVENTS UNDER SCANNER

After exposure of a medical college getting bodies from Sirsa, the medical education events that include cadaveric hands on training have also come under scanner. The medical conferences include training sessions and part of the training is done on cadavers. The responsibility of arranging cadavers is on the college where the training is done.

The fact that rate of body donation is very poor in the state makes private colleges arrange bodies from outside the state. “We are probing the issue,” said SSP, Lucknow.

NOT JUST UP

Bodies from Sirsa were not just sent to Uttar Pradesh but also to other states, including Uttarakhand. “Some other colleges in other states also got the bodies for hands on training during the continued medical education programmes,” said a doctor.