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Lost Mountain Tissue Bank Scandal

On October 10, 2005 Lost Mountain Tissue Bank, Inc. initiated warnings for all tissue products processed and/or distributed from donors attained in the New York area by Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS). Lost Mountain Tissue Bank, Inc. took this action after learning of perhaps fraudulent information in donor documentation. All related hospitals and medical professionals are being notified of the market withdrawal.

The untested body parts and tissue scandal centers around Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS), which allegedly acquired body parts without donor permission and sold them for use in transplants performed at hospitals and other medical facilities within the United States. The owner and three other employees of Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) have been indicted in Brooklyn, New York for taking body parts without legal consent and without proper screening. It is believed that funeral home operators accepted money from the company in exchange for ignoring obviously forged death certificates and consent forms. The body parts and tissue in question have been distributed throughout the country and used in thousands of operations.

Thousands of patients who underwent tissue, bone and organ transplants are at risk of developing serious diseases due to the use of untested body parts. Recent criminal charges detailed the illegal sale of untested body parts and tissue to hospitals, distributors and medical device manufacturers.  The FDA is concerned that the recipients of untested body parts and tissues are potentially at risk of developing HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Syphilis and other infectious diseases. If you or a loved one has received any bone, organ, or tissue transplant contact our attorneys today for an immediate lawsuit case consultation.

Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) sold these illegal body parts to several large companies including Medtronic Inc., Lifecell Corp., Regeneration Technologies, Inc., Tutogen Medical, Inc., SpinalGraft Technologies, LLC, and Blood & Tissue Center of Central Texas. The FDA and most of the companies involved have not disclosed the number of patients that received the untested parts and tissue. However, Medtronic said it received 13,000 tainted pieces from Regeneration Technologies, of which 8,000 were actually implanted.

Untested Body Parts Scandal - Timeline

2001 -- Former dental surgeon Michael Mastromarino of Fort Lee teams up with embalmer Joseph Nicelli in a tissue-harvesting business.

Early 2002 -- The pair allegedly begin more than three years of harvesting tissue without consent.

November 2004 -- Following a complaint, an NYPD detective begins investigating a Brooklyn funeral home that Nicelli had recently sold.

Oct. 7, 2005 -- News of the investigation breaks.

Oct. 13, 2005 -- The Food and Drug Administration orders a recall of any unused tissue procured by BioMedical Tissue Services.

November 2005 -- Medtronic reveals it received 13,000 tainted samples and implanted 8,000 of them.

Feb. 3, 2006 -- The FDA shuts down BTS.

Feb. 23, 2006 -- A 122-count indictment is unsealed in Brooklyn against Mastromarino, Nicelli and two others .

March 8, 2006 -- Brooklyn authorities are preparing indictments against funeral home employees, a law enforcement source tells The Record.

If you or a loved one has received any bone, organ, or tissue transplant, please fill out the form to the right for a free case evaluation by a qualified attorney.