Their Kingdom for a Corpse
`Want to buy a head? On the American body-part market, the going price is between $500 and $900, plus another $50 if you’d like the brain, too. A torso will set you back as much as $3,000, while a single foot could cost $650.
At these prices, there’s plenty of temptation for people to take advantage of the dead. But as a disturbing new book reveals, the burgeoning trade in human remains is largely unmonitored. Universities, mortuaries and medical companies routinely buy and sell arms, legs and elbows with virtually no oversight.
The inevitable result? Crooked deals, stolen corpses and lots of looking the other way.’
