MADURAI: A delay in receiving the body of a retired government employee donated for medical research at Madurai Medical College (MMC) has caused concern among her family members in Madurai.
V Palanivel, retired Assistant Commissioner of the Madurai corporation, said his wife, R Maniammai, died at a private hospital on August 15. Maniammai, who had served as a Child Welfare Officer in Madurai and retired in 2014, had expressed her wish to donate her body to MMC for research after her death.
Palanivel said the family decided to honour her wish but faced difficulties in handing over the body. According to him, the family was informed that the body would be received at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) on August 16. However, since no one came to collect it, the family took the body to the GRH mortuary around 4 pm.
“We were told that since it was Sunday and a holiday, the body would be kept in the mortuary. We are upset and puzzled as to why the body was taken to the mortuary instead of MMC. It appears that nobody cared about the body donation,” he said.
Speaking to the TNIE, a senior GRH official said not all bodies could be accepted for donation, as those with certain infections cannot be used for research. The official also said that embalming is mandatory before donated bodies are handed over to the Anatomy Department of MMC.
The embalming procedure, which involves chemically treating the body and takes more than four hours, was carried out on Monday. The body has since been transferred to MMC and is currently being used for research and study, the official said.