Tissue and bone transplants from improperly screened donors are being investigated by authorities. The FDA issued an alert to physicians, hospitals and tissue processing plants that tissue received from Biomedical Tissue Services, Ltd. (BTS) in Ft. Lee, New Jersey may not have met FDA donor requirements and may contain infectious diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Syphilis.

Tissue transplants can involve any part of the body. Common tissue transplants (allografts) involve skin tissue, bone or bone marrow, tendons, organs, and even corneas. Tissue transplants require a donor medical history review, physical assessment, and disease screening test to meet FDA donor requirements.

It is alleged that tissue used in tissue transplants may have been taken without proper authorization and without donor screening. In this case, tissue processors in New Jersey, Georgia, Texas, and Florida received tissue from BTS. The potentially diseased tissue may have been involved in bone marrow transplants, bone transplants, heart valve transplants, or skin grafts from 1/2004 to 9/2005.

Unfortunately, this is not the first case of transplanted tissue obtained without the donor's permission and without proper screening. The demand for these transplants is high and those involved will often take illegal measures to deliver the tissues for a high price. These actions can pose serious health threats to the tissue transplant recipient and emotional trauma to the deceased donor's loved ones.

Tissue Transplant and BioMedical Tissue in the News

Sep-23-06: Transplant patients horrified to find they could have been implanted with tainted tissue. [IC WALES: TAINTED TISSUE TRANSPLANTS]

Sep-01-06: For the second time in a year, people who received transplanted tissue are being warned to get tested for hepatitis and AIDS. [STAR-TELEGRAM: TAINTED TISSUE TRANSPLANT ]

Aug-30-06: FDA to study regulation of the human tissue and organ industry as second body pards scandal comes to light. [MSNBC]

Aug-23-06: Hundreds of human body parts harvested for transplants have been recalled and are believed to be tainted. [MSNBC]

Jun-12-06: Questions over safety of tissue harvested from human bodies for tissue transplants [MSNBC]

May-09-06: Alabama man files lawsuit after he receive defective tissue from stolen body parts. [ NEWSDAY ]

Apr-26-06: Stolen Body Parts Scandal Leads to More Testing of Patients Who May Have Received Diseased Human Tissue Grafts [NEWS INFERNO]

Apr-23-06: Nearly 100 people received tissue transplants from funeral home corpses and must undergo testing for HIV/AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B and C. [AJC]

Mar-14-06: A lawsuit against BTS may be bigger than originally imagined. Thousands of pieces of potentially tainted tissue and organs have been transplanted into unaware recipients. Upon learning of the dangers, distribution companies have destroyed millions of dollars worth of potentially diseased human tissue. Medtronic, a medical equipment manufacturer and tissue distributor, said that it implanted 8,000 pieces into human recipients. [MSNBC]

The FDA has provided information on its investigation into human tissue transplantation, which can be found on the: [FDA WEB SITE]

Register your Tissue Transplant Complaint

If you have received a letter or notification related to bone or tissue transplants or have had any type of bone or tissue transplant in 2004 or 2005, you may be at risk. If you would like a free case evaluation, please click on the link below to file your complaint with a lawyer.