To ask for your help disposing of a skeleton?

[Madders45]

I have a skeleton that I acquired when I was studying medicine in the early 80s. Back then it was compulsory to have one.

It’s not a whole skeleton - it’s the skull, spine, pelvic bone + one side of the body. So only one arm and one leg.

It’s now been in my attic for decades, as I’ve never known what to do with it really.

Dh and I have recently retired and are emigrating - I obviously have to dispose of it somehow.

I tried to persuade my daughter to put it in her loft, but she thinks it’s too ‘creepy’.

So I’ve tried googling how to dispose of it - one website said that under the new Health Tissue Act the best thing to do is to offer it to a licensed medical school. I’ve emailed my alma mater and a few other local unis, but they’ve either not replied or declined it.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Apologies if I have missed someone suggesting the same thing... I have skimmed the thread rather than reading thoroughly due to a toddler up with a nasty temperature and the usual million and one other things going on.

I think the first thing I would do would be to contact my old university department to ask for their advice. They have to take some level of responsibility surely and may even take it off your hands?! Failing that search for ex-students in the same year as you on facebook (if not still im touch) as surely others have had the same dilemma...

I am a biologist and have long considered donating my body to science (I realise that a lot of restrictions apply). This thread has spurred me on... will investigate further I think.

Good luck and may the bones find a peaceful resting place.

I graduated from Cardiff only a few years ago (dentistry not medicine) and they still recommended we use a real human skull if we could get one! E.g. if we had one in the family, obviously not as simple as buying one. Maybe contacting a uni like Cardiff that's quite anatomy focused? Or a medical student group? I would have accepted it when I was studying. A few people had real skulls.

I think they are useful for teaching and it would be a shame to bury it if it can be used. I think skeletons and bones are really wonderful and fascinating, as long as they are treated respectfully.

Anyone remember the Mumsnet yet who was adamant (in AIBU) that her primary aged DD should take a genuine Skeleton to school for show and tell

Wow. I never sent it into school with my daughter, but I did once get it down from the loft to show her when she was probably about 5 or 6.

She was learning about bones at school and had to do an activity that involved cutting out pictures of bones from a sheet of paper and fastening them together into a skeleton with split pins. She was very interested to see the real thing and had a lot of fun putting all the bones in the right place.

That was over 20 years ago now though, and is probably the last time I got the skeleton out of its bag.

Under cover of darkness, take it to some building site where the planning permission was given despite thousands of local objections. Partially hide skeleton, job will be held up for weeks.

Or just leave it somewhere, sitting up, smoking a fag and reading a paper - a park bench would be good.

I would also love a skeleton! Kids would love it too.

The smell! That's the thing about working with flesh, either preserved or fresh, it's the smell that got most of us!

Formalin makes you hungry too. As a vegetarian that's the bit that disturbed me most!
When I was a student I studied both human and veterinary anatomy. The human specimens were prosected so we weren't let loose on those but at the beginning of each year we were each given a dog, horse and cow to dissect over the course of the academic year, literally bit by bit, so lesson 1 would be how to remove skin and clean up muscles, then we'd work through each body system systematically. Absolutely fascinating and they managed to always do the stinky stuff (horse digestion normally!) the morning after the particularly heavy student union nights out.

@Madders45 fundamentally any potential destination for human remains that has a legitimate use for them will now have policies in place restricting them to only ever use material with a paper trail showing it was legitimately and ethically obtained.

Given that no such paper trail exists for these remains, the only option is to assume that as it is possible that it was not ethically obtained, it must be ethically disposed of and not kept in circulation in any way.

OP the UK regulations are so strict now that not even some big institutions or museums can have real human bones unless fossils.
I would either call a university or a hospital, the university might be able to direct you

OP all if my friends that studied medicine had real skeletons, you will not be the only one

I had a half skeleton from my Dad who acquired one as a medical student in the 50's. We had the box with the company name and unsurprisingly they were no longer active as a company. Local medical schools weren't interested, but 1 put me in touch with someone who wanted it for educational purposes so I passed it on (I couldn't ask for any money, just seemed wrong.) we did know that she was an Indian lady in her 60's when she died.

I was also a medical student, but in the early 90's, and only a very few students bought plastic skeletons then, they weren't promoted as necessary for anatomy by that time. I presume the practice of buying real skeletons stopped in the 80's or before?

OP I would contact Imperial College, I know they are one of the few places with permits to house human remains
They can direct you
www.imperial.ac.uk/human-anatomy-unit/

We were all given a skull. We had to leave a deposit and hand it back when we graduated. (Dentist)
Lol at does the MDU exist

Also a Medical Protection Society - which do you think sounds more Potteresque?!

I know you're trying nearby universities first, but you could try University of Dundee, very large forensic anth department, lovely people, they take donations of actual bodies from people who want to donate their body to science after death, might be worth a shot.

I would assume that institutions registered with a license to hold human tissue would need paperwork to be able to accept it.

Well done for abiding by the HTA and please ignore all of the ridiculous suggestions like bury it in the garden or at sea or sell it

@Rhubarbisevil no, human body fat is an orangey yellow colour. More like heavy engine grease. (Observed post-mortems).

I've always wanted to donate my skeleton to a university/college. Seems like this would no longer be possible.

They still accept bodies, mine's going to Birmingham medical school (as long as I don't die on a weekend or a bank holiday).

Grease

🤮

Good afternoon,

There are various options that are available to you when disposing of a skeleton, please see below:

Donating to a medical school for training

Human bones fall under the remit of the HTA and the Human Tissue Act (HT Act) 2004. As this type of specimen may still be valuable for teaching and education purposes, you may wish to contact either an HTA-licensed medical school or anatomy school to enquire if they wish to take the skeleton.

A full list of HTA-licensed medical schools along with contact details can be found on the HTA website. Please use the search facility in the provided link to find your closest one: www.hta.gov.uk/medical-schools

Sensitive disposal at local mortuary

Alternatively, if you wish to sensitively dispose of the skeleton, we would advise you to contact a local mortuary who may be able to assist you with the disposal on your behalf. A list of our licensed establishments with a Post Mortem licence can be found via this link.

Sale of the skeleton

There is also the possibility of the sale of the skeleton. Under the HT Act, it is an offence to engage in commercial dealings in bodily material (such as organs or tissue) for the purposes of transplantation. However the HT Act is silent on the sale of bodies, body parts or tissue for other purposes. This means that sales fall outside the remit of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA).

While there is no prohibition under the HT Act on the sale of skeletons, buyers need to be aware of the legal framework. If a skeleton is less than one hundred years old, a licence would be required to put the skeleton on display in public or used in research or health-related training. In most cases, bones kept in people’s homes for personal use and reference fall outside of our licensing framework. Finally, whilst you are not responsible for ensuring that purchasers adhere to any applicable regulatory requirements, a key principle on which the HT Act is based is that all bodies, body parts or tissue should be treated with respect and dignity.

Finally, it is good practice to keep a record of date and method of transfer or disposal of the material for your own assurance.

I hope this information has been useful, and please do let us know by emailing: [email protected] if you have any further questions.

With kind regards,
HTA

Good afternoon,

There are various options that are available to you when disposing of a skeleton, please see below:

Donating to a medical school for training

Human bones fall under the remit of the HTA and the Human Tissue Act (HT Act) 2004. As this type of specimen may still be valuable for teaching and education purposes, you may wish to contact either an HTA-licensed medical school or anatomy school to enquire if they wish to take the skeleton.

A full list of HTA-licensed medical schools along with contact details can be found on the HTA website. Please use the search facility in the provided link to find your closest one: www.hta.gov.uk/medical-schools

Sensitive disposal at local mortuary

Alternatively, if you wish to sensitively dispose of the skeleton, we would advise you to contact a local mortuary who may be able to assist you with the disposal on your behalf. A list of our licensed establishments with a Post Mortem licence can be found via this link.

Sale of the skeleton

There is also the possibility of the sale of the skeleton. Under the HT Act, it is an offence to engage in commercial dealings in bodily material (such as organs or tissue) for the purposes of transplantation. However the HT Act is silent on the sale of bodies, body parts or tissue for other purposes. This means that sales fall outside the remit of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA).

While there is no prohibition under the HT Act on the sale of skeletons, buyers need to be aware of the legal framework. If a skeleton is less than one hundred years old, a licence would be required to put the skeleton on display in public or used in research or health-related training. In most cases, bones kept in people’s homes for personal use and reference fall outside of our licensing framework. Finally, whilst you are not responsible for ensuring that purchasers adhere to any applicable regulatory requirements, a key principle on which the HT Act is based is that all bodies, body parts or tissue should be treated with respect and dignity.

Finally, it is good practice to keep a record of date and method of transfer or disposal of the material for your own assurance.

I hope this information has been useful, and please do let us know by emailing: [email protected] if you have any further questions.

With kind regards,
HTA

Good work @humantissueauthority

That's an interesting and illuminating update by the HTA! I'd never have thought of asking a mortuary.

This thread has probably reminded quite a few clinicians that they have a skeleton somewhere.