Man Filed Lawsuit After Learning His Mom's Donated Body Was Used For Bomb Testing, Not Alzheimer's Research

In a truly heartbreaking turn of events, an Arizona man took legal action against a body donation company after discovering that his late mother’s body originally donated to help Alzheimer’s research was actually used in bomb testing by the military.

While many people opt for traditional burials or cremation, an estimated 20,000 Americans each year choose to donate their bodies to science. These donations are meant to support medical research and educational programs.

Although some parts of body donation are governed by laws like the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, there’s still a massive gray area. In fact, experts say there's an underground market where human remains are bought, sold, and used in ways donors and their families never intended.

FBI Special Agent Paul Micah Johnson, who has spent nearly a decade investigating the body donation industry, explained to CBS News in 2023: "Medical research and education, particularly education, is a vague term and it is not clearly defined even in the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act."

"The misleading of families across the industry is quite common."

Jim Stauffer’s mother, Doris, passed away in 2014 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Hoping to contribute to research on the disease, he decided to donate her body to the Biological Resource Center (BRC).

The families initially had no idea KTVK

An in-depth investigation by Reuters later revealed a disturbing truth—over 20 donated bodies sent to BRC, including Doris’, were actually used in military blast experiments instead of medical studies.

According to the report, BRC now defunct had sold bodies like Doris’ for around $5,893 each. This raised serious concerns about transparency and ethics in the body donation world.

The outlet also pointed out: "When a body is donated, few states provide rules governing dismemberment or use, or offer any rights to a donor's next of kin."

"Bodies and parts can be bought, sold and leased, again and again. As a result, it can be difficult to track what becomes of the bodies of donors, let alone ensure that they are handled with dignity."

Stephen Gore, the man who ran BRC, eventually pleaded guilty to running an illegal operation. As reported by KTVK, he received a sentence of one year of deferred jail time along with four years of probation.

Following the shocking revelation and the legal action that came after, Stauffer opened up to KNXV about just how devastating this experience was for him and his loved ones.

The Arizona man sued the company after the discovery KTVK

He shared: "I don't see a pathway of ever getting past this. Every time there's a memory, every time there's a photograph you look at, there's this ugly thing that happened just right there staring right at you."

" Stephen Gore didn't care about the families, he didn't care about the people and he didn't care about the memories. If I can be a little small part of his personal financial destruction, I don't care."