UCLA weighs cadaver safeguards

SAN FRANCISCO — An investigation into a corpse-selling scandal at the University of California, Los Angeles, has resulted in recommendations for new security measures that include implanting bar codes or radio-frequency identifiers in cadavers, officials said.

UCLA suspended its willed-body program last year after the director was arrested for investigation of dealing in stolen body parts.

A body-parts dealer who is not affiliated with the University of California system was also arrested.

Former Gov. George Deukmejian, who led a task force that investigated the case, told University of California regents Wednesday that the probe revealed a "clear lack of standards" in accounting for specimens, keeping records and oversight.

Improvements laid out in a recent report from a private consultant include installing electronic locks and limiting access to cadavers, UC Vice President Michael Drake told the regents.

Other safeguards include digital video cameras and duplicate record systems to create a system of checks and balances.

Campus oversight also will be strengthened, he said.

"You and I know that you can never be sure that you can prevent all criminal activity," Drake told the Los Angeles Times. "But what we want to do is make it extremely difficult for the problems that have happened in the past to happen in the future. And we believe we have done that."

Regents indicated they want the proposals brought back to them for a formal vote.

Mike Arias, an attorney representing people who have sued UCLA over how it handled cadavers, remained skeptical about the changes.

"History tells us that you believe what somebody is going to do based on their past actions," he told the Times. "And if you've been bitten a couple times, you have to stay away from that dog."