Diesel Damo
25-04-2005, 02:55 PM
<http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,31500-13314944,00.html>
"Scientists who used corpses as crash-test dummies in Austria could be
jailed if convicted of violating the dignity of the dead.
Researchers at the Technical University of Graz used 21 bodies in tests
carried out from 1994 to 2003.
During the tests, the bodies were placed in seats that moved with
speeds up to 10mph before being stopped in an effort to simulate a
rear-end collision.
Scientists observed how the bodies' vertebrae, upper bodies and backs
moved.
Anyone convicted in the case could face imprisonment for up to six
months or a fine.
Horst Sigl, a prosecutor in the city of Graz, said authorities are
investigating whether researchers at the gained consent from the
families of the dead before using the corpses in the tests.
"The core of the problem is whether those used in the tests or their
relatives gave permission," he said.
Senarclens de Grancy, a spokeswoman for the university insisted that
tests were carried out under strict ethical standards and said they did
not disturb the peace of the dead.
"It's not in any way a crash test as you might think about it. There is
no car, there is no wall," she said.
Using real corpses was crucial to help scientists develop a "dummy
which is very similar to the human body, which reacts as the human body
does", she said.
The criminal investigation began after local media reported on the
previous tests and on a request by the scientists to use more corpses,
raising authorities' concern that a crime might have been committed.
The researchers had asked to use more corpses but said they would not
proceed with those tests unless an ethics committee gives its approval.
That committee is based at the Medical University of Graz, a separate
institution, which provided the bodies for the crash tests.
Though the university was "confident" that all had been done to adhere
to ethical concerns, it had begun investigating the use of corpses."
"Scientists who used corpses as crash-test dummies in Austria could be
jailed if convicted of violating the dignity of the dead.
Researchers at the Technical University of Graz used 21 bodies in tests
carried out from 1994 to 2003.
During the tests, the bodies were placed in seats that moved with
speeds up to 10mph before being stopped in an effort to simulate a
rear-end collision.
Scientists observed how the bodies' vertebrae, upper bodies and backs
moved.
Anyone convicted in the case could face imprisonment for up to six
months or a fine.
Horst Sigl, a prosecutor in the city of Graz, said authorities are
investigating whether researchers at the gained consent from the
families of the dead before using the corpses in the tests.
"The core of the problem is whether those used in the tests or their
relatives gave permission," he said.
Senarclens de Grancy, a spokeswoman for the university insisted that
tests were carried out under strict ethical standards and said they did
not disturb the peace of the dead.
"It's not in any way a crash test as you might think about it. There is
no car, there is no wall," she said.
Using real corpses was crucial to help scientists develop a "dummy
which is very similar to the human body, which reacts as the human body
does", she said.
The criminal investigation began after local media reported on the
previous tests and on a request by the scientists to use more corpses,
raising authorities' concern that a crime might have been committed.
The researchers had asked to use more corpses but said they would not
proceed with those tests unless an ethics committee gives its approval.
That committee is based at the Medical University of Graz, a separate
institution, which provided the bodies for the crash tests.
Though the university was "confident" that all had been done to adhere
to ethical concerns, it had begun investigating the use of corpses."