Tasmanian government apologises over stolen body parts scandal

An investigation found that 177 human specimens from dozens of bodies were secretly kept by a museum.

The Tasmanian government has formally apologised for the practice of taking human specimens from post-mortem examinations without the knowledge or consent of families. The specimens were retained and exhibited by the RA Rodda Museum of Pathology in Hobart, on display by appointment for teaching purposes. The practices continued from 1966 to 1991, and formally ceased in 1997.

The Tasmanian government has apologised for a decades-old scandal in which body parts taken from autopsies were secretly kept—and in some cases put on display—without the consent of families. The wrongdoing was uncovered last year after an investigation found that between 1966 and 1991 pathologists may have 'actively sourced' 177 human specimens collected during autopsies before handing them to a university museum.

Fifty years after burying his brother and best friend, John Santi spent almost every fortnight by his grave site. So when he saw his brother's name in a newspaper along with 143 others calling for family members to contact the coroner, it marked the beginning of 16 months of hell culminating in a formal apology from the Tasmanian government. Tony Santi had died in a motorcycle crash when he was 19 in 1976. A 13-year-old John remembered his brother's body being taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital before his family received the remains to be buried. But a coronial investigation in September found the University of Tasmania's RA Rodda Museum secretly kept 177 human autopsy samples for teaching and research purposes between 1966 and 1991.

Fifty years after burying his brother and best friend, John Santi spent almost every fortnight by his grave site. So when he saw his brother's name in a newspaper along with 143 others calling for family members to contact the coroner, it marked the beginning of 16 months of hell culminating in a formal apology from the Tasmanian government. Tony Santi had died in a motorcycle crash when he was 19 in 1976. A 13-year-old John remembered his brother's body being taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital before his family received the remains to be buried. But a coronial investigation in September found the University of Tasmania's RA Rodda Museum secretly kept 177 human autopsy samples for teaching and research purposes between 1966 and 1991.