Are human organs removed before burial in the US?

Question

I'm taking a history course and my professor said this evening that human organs are removed from the body of the deceased prior to embalming and burial. I can only find info about China and the UK--nothing about what happens in the states. I feel that this is an invasion and should be illegal and not done without the next of kin's consent if the deceased is not an organ donor. Even so, why would a funeral home be removing organs and discarding them. Something doesn't seem legit about that. I'm looking for websites where it actually states that funeral do or do NOT do this. My mom is actually going to call a funeral home tomorrow to check on this. All of the crime shows that I've watched I've never seen or heard such a thing. If the deceased is having an autopsy or is an organ donor, yes, I can understand the organ removal; however, if the deceased does not have an autopsy and is not an organ donor what right does a funeral home have to remove the organs. Please assist!!

Answer 1

If the person dies of natural causes, they are buried with their organs. Modern embalming now consists primarily of removing all blood and gases from the body and the insertion of a disinfecting fluid. Small incisions are made in either the carotid or femoral artery and the jugular or femoral vein; the disinfecting fluid is injected through the carotid or femoral artery, and the blood is drained from the jugular or femoral vein.
If the death is unnatural which then requires an autopsy to determine cause of death, the body is also buried with its organs but first the vital organs are removed and immersed in an embalming fluid, and then replaced in the body, often surrounded by a preservative powder. Most corpses in the USA and Canada are embalmed, though it is not required by law in most cases.

Answer 2

The person may be a organ donor, or they may need to look at a organ to determine the cause of death as describe below but then it is replaced back into the body. This is really not the site for this kind of question. This is the R & S site, unless you intended it to mean something spiritual. Dr Rob Jenkins Pathologist Most people who come to me for a postmortem examination will have died from heart disease. In the elderly, strokes and pneumonia are also very common. The young are more likely to die from accidents, suicide or particular types of tumors one gets in youth. If a young person dies, the likelihood of them having a postmortem is high because their death is much more likely to be unexpected. Many older people who die won't have a postmortem because they are likely to have had a known illness that has led to their death. The first part of a postmortem is an external examination that notes the condition of the patient, any unique identifiers such as tattoos, evidence of recent medical intervention or injuries. Their notes might say "found dead in bed", but you don't know whether they have fallen and banged their head the day before and have a subtle but significant injury, so you are looking out for things like that. The internal examination starts with an incision from the sternum to the pubic bone. You go through the skin, fat and muscles to expose the rib cage. Then you cut through some of the ribs for access to the upper organs. When removing the organs you work in three blocks. The thoracic block contains the throat, tongue, lungs, heart and aorta. Then you have the liver, stomach and pancreas in the second block. The final block includes the kidneys, the remainder of the aorta, bowels, bladder and reproductive organs. The incision doesn't go all the way up to the chin because we don't want anything to be visible to the relatives if they view the body. So, to remove the tongue and windpipe, we work up under the skin from the chest. You loosen the skin up to the jawline, then you can work the blade to cut around the tongue, across the vessels and pull them down under the jaw. Once you have removed all the organs, you take them to the bench and go through each of the blocks for more detailed analysis. You look for organ weight - a good indication of heart disease will be a big, heavy, often baggy, heart. You look for vessels blocked by clots or fatty deposits. As you slice through the lungs, you are looking to see if there is fluid where there shouldn't be, if there are tumors or evidence of asbestos exposure. If someone had alcoholic liver disease, one might expect a small, shrunken, scarred liver. Using a scalpel, the mortuary technician will make an incision at the back of the head and lift up the scalp to reveal the skull. A little hand-held saw is used to cut through the skull. The technician will ask you to observe as they take off the skull in case there is something immediately obvious, such as a brain hemorrhage. They will then take out the brain for examination. Many good things may come from a postmortem. You may find something that is relevant to subsequent generations - say, if a young mother has died and you find a coincidental breast cancer, you would suggest screening for her children. If you can't find a cause of death from looking at the organs with the naked eye, you take tissue and fluid samples, which are examined under microscopes and submitted for toxicological analysis. Once you have finished, everything is put back into the body and the incisions are sewn up. It is not possible to re-site the organs into the positions they held in life, but the body is reconstructed as far as possible. It is cleaned to remove traces of fluid or blood. The hair is washed. You complete the cause of death documentation and the body can be released for cremation or burial.

Answer 3

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Very interesting topic! The link above is a AOL search that I did. I took your Question 'Are human organs removed before burial in the US' and it came up with over 7 pages . I am not sure how helpful this will be to you. But, I would be interested in finding out what you come up with.
Good luck and I hope that I helped you out!

Answer 4

Under absolutely no circumstances are the organs removed from the body during embalming. There is absolutely no reason they would need removed. Organs are only removed under 2 conditions, 1. autopsy 2. organ donation. Other than that, organs stay exactly where they are and are never removed.

Answer 5

The only way they do that and they probably dont do that is if u are a organ donor.
Its probably done in a laboratory.
The funeral home just embombs and dresses the corpse.
And then some makeup artist does the makeup.
So, dont worry, the body is considered dust anyway
after u leave the planet.

Answer 6

no the organs of people are not removed before they are buried. People who live in the United States get buried with their organs still inside their bodies.

Answer 7

No - in the US you are embalmed "as is". The only thing that is removed are certain medical devices (pacers, ICD's, things with batteries) that are removed before cremation.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

no not unless the person specifys it in the will as I have done , I have in my will that I will donate my organs to science after I pass on .

Answer 10

It is much harder to remove them once the donor has been buried.