A recent report out of China was that of a death due to plastic surgery. what was most significant about this report, besides the obvious tragedy, is the procedure which ultimately resulted in the patient’s demiss. while deaths from plastic surgery procedures are extremely uncommon and have been reported in the past, most involve a cosmetic operation done on the body.such lethal occurrences are even more rare in plastic surgery of the face.
A young prominent 24 year-old female (she was an aspiring pop singer who was on China’s equivalent of ‘American Idol’) died in November while undergoing ‘facial-bone grinding surgery’. according to the report, her jaw bleed uncontrollably at some point in the operation which lead to it accumulating in her throat. this blocked her ability to breathe and she subsequently suffocated and died.
What was this ‘facial bone grinding surgery? this does not sound like a very common cosmetic facial procedure and why would anyone have their facial bones ground on? while I don’t know any of the details of this specific surgery, it could only be that of a jaw angle reduction procedure. while very rarely requested or done in Caucasian patients and in the U.S., it is actually a fairly common cosmetic facial procedure in the Asian patient and in countries such as Korea and China. in the desire to have a more slim and less broad face, narrowing the prominent jaw angle is one facial procedure that helps achieve that goal. it is not usually done by grinding or burring of the bone but by actually cutting off the angle of the jaw bone with a saw. One of the known potential complications, albeit rare, is to inadvertently cut one of the large blood vessels to the surrounding masseter muscle which envelopes the bone. this may cause a lot of bleeding but it isn’t usually a lethal complication.
How is it possible for this young lady to have suffocated from the bleeding during her surgery? this could only have happened from the type of anesthetic she was having. always in my hands, this isan operation that is done with the patient fully asleep (general anesthetic) and having their airway protected by an endotracheal tube. this breathing tube not only makes sure that one’s airway does not get blocked but also prevents any fluid that would enter the throat from being allowed to get into the lungs. For her to have suffocated from the bleeding, she must not have had a breathing tube in a place. this also means she was done under some form of local or sedation anesthesia…an almost unthinkable notion for this kind of surgery. besides patient comfort, a general anesthetic with a protected airway also helps ensure patient safety should bleeding events like this one should occur.
Like many tragic outcomes from cosmetic procedures, close inspection of the story often bears out that uncommon and unusual approaches were being done. taking shortcuts in cosmetic surgery should never over ride patient safety measures.
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For some people, ear surgery can help to create a balanced, natural looking appearance. Many times, individuals are born in situations where the ears are not the same size. in other cases, both are larger than what is considered normal. in these situations, a procedure called otoplasty may be effective. It can correct a number of concerns related to this condition. making a change like this could help to boost a person s self-esteem and create a greater sense of self worth.
In this form of ear surgery, the goal is to correct prominent ears. the surgery is common and minimally invasive. Each year, thousands of men, women and children have this procedure to correct the problem. however, each procedure is unique. Because the deformities can range from large earlobes to large helixes, the surgeon must create a special plan to improve the look and construction of the patient on a one-on-one basis.
Though procedures can occur at any time during a person’s life, most procedures involving prominent ears are done on children after they reach the age of five or six. At this age, there is enough cartilage to allow a structural change to occur. Prior to this age, there is not enough cartilage or the child’s ears will be growing at a significant rate that it may be impossible to make life-long changes at that time.
In some cases, insurance companies do offer coverage for this type of surgical procedure. It will depend on the circumstances. in situations where the condition is considered a disfigurement due to improper development of the child, it is likely to be covered by insurance.
What to Expect
For parents considering otoplasty for their child, there are a few risks involved. the procedure is often an outpatient one. It is done under general anesthesia or with local anesthesia depending on the individual circumstances and the amount of change necessary. Most commonly, doctors will put the child to sleep as a way of reducing anxiety, but parents do get the ultimate say in this procedure. After the procedure, the patient will need to wear a head bandage for about a week to hold the ears in place. then, they will need to wear the headband for a month only at night.
To find out if your situation is ideal for ear surgery, contact a doctor who specializes in it. the doctor will do a full consultation, discuss the options and provide detailed steps that are necessary to correct the condition. in many cases, the outcome can be ideal. It is a good idea to look for a specialist to ensure the best possible outcome is achieved due to the skill of the doctor.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – AUSTIN (KXAN) when you think of plastic surgery, children don’t typically come to mind.
But a plastic surgeon in Austin is willing to accept children to go under the knife under certain circumstances.
According to Dr. Jennifer Walden, plastic surgery can help children who are dealing with such as larger than normal ears or noses.
“A 6-year-old child being called ‘Dumbo,’ for example, is not a real nice thing,” Walden said on KXAN News Today. “And a surgery procedure such as an otoplasty, or ear pinning, only takes two , two and a half hours and can actually help that child in a short amount of time with those anatomic problems that they may have.”
“It’s not a cure-all but it can help for certain specific problems.”
Walden suggests getting other factors involved when making the decision on weather plastic surgery is an option. she suggests the approval of all members involved, including approval from pediatrician, clinical psychologists, and even psychiatrist can be involved.
There was also more than 97,200 non-surgical procedures performed on children. the procedures include things like laser hair removal, chemical peels and injectables.
This was a jump in numbers from 2010 which had 33,610 surgical procedures and 91,900 non-surgical procedures performed on children.
BALTIMORE, MD, Aug 28, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –Butt and calf augmentation procedures are common among patientsseeking to enhance their body’s contour and overall aesthetics.Implants have always been a popular option to achieve desiredresults; however, advancements in plastic surgery have producedsafer, more effective augmentation techniques. Dr. James Vogel, aboard-certified plastic surgeon in Baltimore, has adopted astate-of-the-art method for performing butt and calf augmentationsusing fat transferred from the patient’s own body. he says, “Improvedtechniques for fat harvesting and preparation encourage better takeand growth of fat, resulting in more predictable and enhancedresults.”
during the procedure, fat is harvested using liposuction frompredetermined areas of the body. according to Dr. Vogel, the abdomen,waistline, and inner thighs are the most common places to obtain fatto be transplanted; however, he adds that patients are able to makethe final decision during a pre-surgery consultation. Once removed,the fat is injected into targeted areas on the buttocks or calvesthrough small incisions in order to reduce scarring. Dr. Vogel saysutilizing naturally-occurring fat cells, rather than foreign implantmaterial, can often result in a more natural appearance and asignificantly simplified recovery process.
Recovery times may vary among individuals based on each patient’snatural healing process. Following a butt augmentation, Dr. Vogelnormally recommends patients avoid sitting directly on theirbacksides for two weeks following surgery, in addition to wearing anarticle of compression clothing for four to six weeks to help reduceswelling. Similarly, he advises patients receiving a calfaugmentation to wait five to seven days before resuming normalactivities, and recommends refraining from strenuous activities forabout six weeks. For both surgeries, swelling and bruising can beexpected initially and patients should be able to resume allactivities after six weeks.
Although patients can be cleared for all activities after six weeks,Dr. Vogel says results may continue to change for a few months. Hesays the body normally absorbs about 20-30% of the injected fat,leaving about 70-80% remaining. However, he adds that any fatremaining after four months is generally permanent and results shouldstay relatively the same. Dr. Vogel also says whether patients areinterested in calf augmentation or butt augmentation in Baltimore,they should always consult a board-certified surgeon to ensure thesafest, most effective results possible.
About James Vogel, M.D., F.A.C.S. A graduate of the Mount SinaiSchool of Medicine in New York City, Dr. James Vogel is devoted tothe enhancement of patient care through the use of the latest plasticsurgery technologies and techniques. his practice offers acomprehensive variety of cosmetic treatments and procedures rangingfrom breast augmentation to BOTOX(R) Cosmetic. Dr. Vogel is a memberof several prestigious medical associations including the AmericanSociety of Plastic Surgeons, among others. he is board-certified inplastic surgery and an advocate of continued medical education.
Dr. Vogel’s practice is located at 4 Park Center Court, Ste. 100,Owings Mills, MD 21117, and can be reached by phone at 410-484-8860.he and his staff can also be contacted online atdrvogelplasticsurgeon.com or facebook.com/drjamesevogel.
Contact: Rosemont Media Email Contact (858) 200-0044 www.rosemontmedia.com
So, you’re seriously considering plastic surgery. But how do you pay for it all? Financing your plastic surgery procedure can be one of the most difficult decisions you’ll have to make prior to surgery.
Unless you’re seeking out reconstructive surgery following a traumatic accident or illness, it’s unlikely that your insurance will cover even a small portion of your procedure.
“Consumers should be aware that cosmetic surgery is not covered under insurance, so all of the expenses must be paid out of pocket,” says Kevin Kautzmann, a certified financial planner.
Fortunately, when you can’t technically pay out of pocket, there are options, according to Fox Business.
If you’re willing to shop around, a credit card can end up being a savvy choice. Health care or medical credit cards, which can only be used to cover medical expenses, have seen a recent surge in popularity for plastic surgery patients.
These cards often come with 0% interest promotions, as well as reasonable interest rates and payment plans. Additionally, these cards often give lenders “a sense of control if they tend to overspend,” because they are limited to medical purchases, according to Billy DeFrance, a financial planner in El Paso.
Taking out a personal loan to cover expenses related to your procedure may also be a good option. Bank loans often have fixed interest rates as well as fixed repayment periods. This can add up to less interest, and build your credit at the same time.
Though most doctors request payment in full prior to surgery, it doesn’t hurt to ask if you can setup a payment plan. in some cases, doctors provide patients with repayment plans that offer more flexibility than other payment methods.
If all else fails, saving up the cash for your procedure may just be smartest choice. “It may not be sexy, but the best answer for most people is to save each month until you have the bill covered—then get the procedure done,” says financial adviser Michael Masiello.
Vanessa Bryant “certainly would not want to be married to somebody that can’t win championships.” and giddy with anticipation for the upcoming Steve Nash and Dwight Howard pick-and-roll tandem, Vanessa knows this is not the year to leave Kobe.
How primed is she for the season? well, the always-totally-reliable National Enquirer suggests that she’s so pumped up that she got plastic surgery to make sure Kobe deems her hotness sufficient to keep her around for this year’s title run. The thought process goes: no champion would leave Vanessa 2.0, no matter how many dashing Australian swimmers may sit adjacent to him at cycling races.
A source told The National Enquirer that Vanessa was starting to feel ‘insecure’ about her looks and ‘would do anything to keep Kobe happy.’
But the Daily Mail looked into the Enquirer‘s airtight SOURCE and gave the other side of the story. It’s a match of the tabloid heavyweights! Britain vs. America!
Her representatives have blasted the allegations as ’100 per cent not true’ and ‘ridiculous’.
During her appearance at the London Olympic Games, the 30-year-old set tongues wagging that she had undergone surgery after pictures of her looking rather different from her former self emerged.
The Enquirer talks about changes in skin tone, hair, a probable nose job, and “plumped” lips. this all comes from a plastic surgeon they interviewed.
So we don’t know the motivation behind her (supposed) surgeries. Maybe it was to keep Kobe away from Australians. Maybe her nose was getting in the way when she ate ice cream. Maybe she was threatened by Ciara’s “goodies.”
You can come to your own conclusions. and to help you along, we give you: the Mambanessa timeline.
Let’s be truthful, in today’s shallow world, seems matter. looking far better can considerably Air Max 2012 increase your self-esteem, and improve how you will feel about yourself. as a result of cosmetic surgery, there is no explanation to get dissatisfied along with your appearance. the surgical treatment guidance in this post, will assist you to insure that you will be satisfied with your surgical procedure.
Find out about surgical procedure costs in advance, and make sure to watch out for invisible costs. the surgeon’s expense is not the only person inside the picture. there are fees for the usage of the functioning area, the anaesthetic, and the implant on its own if one is being employed. Inquire about ultimate stroll-out-the-doorway fees.
No matter your determination for obtaining surgical treatment, think of obtaining it accomplished out of town so that you minimize other individuals realizing the change when you return. Even when you are possessing a change done to right a birth problem or Air Max 90 result of a crash or cancer surgery, many people might behave harshly in any case. they can not know your motivations and determine you as vain. you may not need to have this, as being the whole position would be to feel happier about oneself.
Look for an operating specialist committed to a specific sort of surgical procedures. you still need to look at the surgeon’s license and insurance policy. seeing a specialist means you will a surgeon with sufficient experience to avoid difficulties. you should also count on higher price ranges from professionals. nevertheless, keep in mind that quality is much more essential than cost savings, in terms of surgical treatment.
If having plastic surgery is something that you have started studying, it is vital that you get the best doctor around. the costs may differ a good deal for cosmetic plastic surgery, and so can the quality. Review the comments that other clients made with regards to a few doctors, which were still left on Nike Air Max sites other than the doctor’s individual website, to guarantee their accuracy and reliability.
Look for surgeons who publicize them selves as “board accredited”, but usually do not indicate what board. Any licensed medical professional can officially carry out plastic cosmetic surgery, even without the need of accreditation through the Board of Aesthetic Surgery. they may be Board-certified in another place, completely unrelated to plastic-type, or plastic surgery. Demand qualification details.
Locate a board-certified doctor. These physicians ordinarily have greater price ranges, but they have been licensed by the United states Table of Cosmetic Surgeon and have most probably obtained a comprehensive coaching to meet the requirements. A board-certified surgeon should be far better ready, but bear in mind that encounter Air Max 90 can also be an important factor.
Should your teenager is looking for cosmetic plastic surgery, you need to hold off until they are completed expanding and it is adult sufficient to create an educated determination. Providing the little one the opportunity to modify their appearance could be good for their self-esteem, but take into account that their body will most likely always keep altering right after the surgery.
Plastic surgery can boost the way feel about your appearance. This increased confidence, and Air Max 95 experience of personal can dramatically enhance your life. by meticulously studying the details on this page. you can determine the ideal cosmetic plastic surgery to suit your needs.This may make certain you wind up being satisfied with the outcomes of the procedure.
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This is the fourth installment of a four-part series.
Mandi Eisenbeis stood over her dad. it was a Thursday in May 2011 when she said her private good-byes at a funeral parlor in Lodi, Calif. George “Randy” Eisenbeis had died young, felled at age 57 by a methamphetamine overdose.
As she looked at him lying in the coffin, she noticed his hands were oozing blood.
Eisenbeis didn’t know what had happened until later, when she learned the funeral director had sent a scathing complaint to the California Transplant Donor Network, the nonprofit organ and tissue bank that had stripped out Randy Eisenbeis’ usable parts.
“To say this was simply a ‘hack job’ would be a compliment,” Lodi Funeral Home’s Michael Collins wrote in a letter accompanied by a series of graphic photos of the torn-apart corpse. “I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that you left his head and his hands for viewing, and yes, that is his severed foot in the photo to the bottom left of the embalming table.”
In March the family sued the California organ bank, accusing it of fraud, mutilation of a corpse, and infliction of emotional distress.
According to call logs made of the consent process, the bank told Mandi Eisenbeis at least four times during the recorded consent process that the body would be properly put back together. she and the family couldn’t give informed consent, the lawsuit charges, because those promises were lies designed to manipulate them into giving their okay.
The California Transplant Donor Network is accredited by the industry gold standard — the American Association of Tissue Banks. According to its policies, tissue banks are required to reassemble a body out of respect for donors, their families and the professionals who handle bodies on their way to burial or cremation.
The tissue bank declined requests to comment for this story. In court filings the tissue bank has denied wrongdoing. In an earlier public statement the organization suggested that Randy Eisenbeis’ corpse had been in good condition when it sent it to the morgue for autopsy. “No matter how complex the reconstruction process may be, it is a standard to which we adhere consistently,” it said. “Unfortunately, we cannot speak to what may transpire once a donor’s body leaves our control.”
The medical examiner’s autopsy findings, however, reported that Randy Eisenbeis came to him naked and skinned, with his feet “separated from the ankles.”
What happened to Randy Eisenbeis may not be typical of how bodies are treated when they enter the tissue donation system. but as a worst-case scenario, his story provides a window onto a system that some say operates with inadequate regulatory scrutiny — and raises questions about how well the industry lives up to its own standards about the manner in which tissue banks obtain consent to take tissues from the recently departed.
Families often know little about what happens after they say, “Yes.” Ethics experts say many families in the U.S. and other countries assume that standard donor agreements apply only to hearts, lungs and internal organs. They don’t realize that in the brave new world of tissue harvesting, the dead’s bones, skin, tendons and heart valves can be cut out and used to create medical devices that can be sold for profit around the world.Lack of information
Tissue from about 30,000 cadavers in the United States is cleaned and milled into medical devices each year and some is exported around the world. U.S. companies also obtain tissue from places including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Latvia.
In many countries, the law allows tissue harvesting unless a donor opts out before death. In the United States, federal law requires that tissue harvesters get families’ approval. How they do that is up to states to decide — and many states have few requirements or guidelines. People are often unaware just what they are giving away when they agree to become a donor. And families often don’t know that when they okay donations to nonprofit organizations such as the California Transplant Donor Network, the tissue routinely goes to for-profit companies, feeding a billion-dollar industry that uses those tissues for everything from repairing a knee to plumping up a penis.
Without uniform federal standards, it is mostly left up to tissue banks to decide how much information to share with donor families. few states require that companies tell families their loved ones’ tissue can be sold overseas, sent to a for-profit company or used in cosmetic procedures such as wrinkle-fillers and nose jobs.
“At present the industry thrives because of public ignorance and indifference regarding the for-profit involvement,” Robert Katz, a law professor from Indiana University wrote in 2006. “Most donors are either unaware of such involvement, or it does not trouble them enough to stop donating.”
In a 2010 study by researchers Laura Siminoff and Heather Traino, 70 percent of donor families said they’d object to a loved one’s tissue going to a for-profit business. Yet fewer than one in five said they’d been told that the harvested tissues could go to a for-profit company.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a new York Democrat, introduced legislation in 2007 that would have established mandatory requirements for what banks had to tell donor families, as well as try to limit the profits companies can make from the donation. but the bill died after heavy lobbying by the industry, Schumer said.
Industry representatives have declined to answer questions for this story.a legal gray area
Chris Truitt, a former industry insider, is among the advocates who are working to reform the system and force companies and nonprofits involved in the process to do a better job of informing the grieving about what will happen to remains of family members who’ve died. Truitt is the author of a book, “The dark side of Tissue Donation,” which exposes what he sees as abuses and profiteering within the donation system.
Chris TruittChris Truitt, donor father and former tissue bank worker. Photo: Narayan Mahon
He began working in the industry after living through a family tragedy.
His daughter, Alyssa, was born with a condition that causes fluid to build in the brain. when Alyssa died at age 2, the Truitts donated her organs and tissues. it soothed the pain to know their daughter’s death had helped others in need. he and his wife began promoting donation.
“I felt it was basically my calling in life,” Truitt said. “I ended up doing what I could to find a position working in the field.”
Truitt signed on with nonprofit tissue bank Allograft Resources of Wisconsin. “My job was to go out and do the procedures. to recover bones, skin, veins, heart valves,” he explained. “We’d take the long bones out, we’d take skin out, take the veins out, take the heart valves out.”
The tools were mostly those found in any operating room — scalpels, retractors, scissors, and clamps. Sometimes, though, Truitt and other recovery technicians also used metal wedges and mallets to break through the bone.
Still, they prided themselves on being “stewards of the gift.” Donors, he said, were treated with respect. Once, an elderly woman whose husband had died thanked Truitt for his work. “She said that at his age in life, he and she both felt that they were completely useless, they had nothing left to give. but by being able to donate, it kind of showed that they still meant something, they were still worth something, they were still able to help somebody.”
But the bank’s record keeping was abysmal, making it impossible to track the tissue from donor to hospital buyer. In 2000 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter — a serious and uncommon reproach. That’s when RTI Biologics — which had until then bought all the bank’s tissue — took over responsibility for its operations.
Once RTI got more involved in daily operations, Truitt said, training was upgraded. Experts came in to show him and his coworkers how to recover tissue in the most efficient manner. “I don’t think they made it any more professional,” he said. “I think they made it more industrial.”
The industrial part of processing and distributing tissue is so different from the soft nonprofit face that donor families are often shocked. “The for-profit trade in body parts is a legal gray area,” said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance. “This affects the confidence of the public and the whole donation process.”
Truitt has nothing against for-profit companies being involved in the industry. he just wants families to be fully informed when the dead’s remains are used to make commercial products. “What I’m saying is that I want that choice. I want to be able to know what that means. And I don’t think that’s what families are getting.”
That can be a challenge, given differences in disclosure laws among states as well as families’ vulnerability during the time of grieving.
Some families don’t want all the details, and it’s up to the organization seeking the tissue to judge how much to disclose, according to Christina Strong, a lawyer for organ and tissue banks and an expert on donation regulations.
Some families, Strong said, might say, “This is freaking abuse. look, I’m giving OK. That’s it.” others might say, “Yes, take it,” but they want an open casket funeral, which means that they need to be aware of the kinds of tissues to be taken and how that will affect the person’s appearance and clothing selection.
Most tissue donation center requests analyzed in the 2010 study didn’t tell families that they could decide not to donate. And none told families they could change their minds after initially agreeing, according to the study published earlier this year in The Journal of Trauma, a medical journal.
Families often have even less information and fewer rights when it comes to harvesting tissue from the dead overseas. Express consent isn’t required, for example, when a company gets tissue from some former Soviet nations.
RTI’s trade-partner turned subsidiary, Tutogen Medical, has obtained tissue from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Latvia, where everyone is a donor unless they expressly opt out. The company also obtains tissue from Ukraine, where government morgues can recover tissue from the dead if they gain family consent.
Four of Tutogen’s Ukrainian suppliers have been investigated for allegedly taking tissue against the wishes of donors or their families. The first case was dismissed when prosecutors couldn’t prove the tissue hand been transplanted. The second was dismissed after the defendant died while a court deliberated his case. two recent investigations are still pending.
The income that can be made from recovery to distribution is anywhere from $80,000 to $200,000, according to industry experts and court testimony. There is a cost involved in recovering, processing and distributing the tissue.
Overseas and in the U.S., some companies that profit from human tissue spend considerable resources cultivating sources of fresh bodies.
Phillip Guyett, who worked as a ground-level body wrangler in California, North Carolina and Las Vegas before he was sent to prison for falsifying death records, said the demand for tissue grows more intense every year. One tissue buyer, Guyett said, summed up the all-out competition for corpses this way: “Whoever has the most bone wins.”A profit machine
A tissue bank performs a tissue recovery.a tissue bank performs a tissue recovery.
When RTI took over the Wisconsin tissue bank where Chris Truitt worked, he said employees were pushed to compete hard with other tissue banks for access to bodies — courting hospitals, funeral homes and morgues. “We would convince them when they came across a death to call us in for the tissue, rather than some other tissue bank,” Truitt said.
Once the tissue left the bank, it was sent to RTI, sterilized and milled into implants. “It is a medical device. It’s regulated as a medical device,” he said. “It’s no longer part of Uncle John. It’s product XYZ123.”
Skin from the Wisconsin bank was also sent to new Jersey-based LifeCell. Truitt says a representative of LifeCell initiated an award for the person who could recover the most tissue from a donor. he said the award was named the Golden Dermatome Award after the instrument designed to strip layers of skin off a donor’s back, thighs and arms.
LifeCell did not respond to questions about the award but said in a statement to ICIJ that the company “is committed to improving patients’ lives.”
“When they started giving out those rewards, it really sunk into me that instead of being stewards of the gift and treating each donor with the ultimate in respect, the company was actually looking at each donor as a profit machine, as nothing more than raw resources,” Truitt said. “And it was our job to take as much of those resources as we possibly could.”
He left the bank, disillusioned that any profits could be made from recycling human tissues from donors like his daughter. he even had his name removed from his state’s list of tissues donors, but remains an organ donor. he hasn’t given up hope.
“Saving lives, making lives better. That’s what it should be all about,” Truitt said. “I talk with a lot of recipients. I talk with a lot of donor families. And we all feel the same thing. It’s too important a thing, too incredible a thing to just stop. We have to fix it instead.”
Mandi Eisenbeis hopes that her family’s lawsuit, filed this spring in San Joaquin County (Calif.) Superior Court against the California Transplant Donor Network, will spur that kind of reform among recovery banks.
The case is still in its early stages; the family’s lawyers hope lawmakers will notice the case and call for changes in how they obtain consent and treat donor bodies.
Eisenbeis said the condition of her father in the coffin — and the photos she saw afterward that showed the full picture of the mutilation — roused her to take her complaints to the bank.
Three times, she said, she sent copies of the funeral director’s letter and pictures to the tissue bank. three times the bank said it never received the mail. Then, she said, it stopped picking up the phone at all.
It was only after getting the silent treatment, she said, that her family decided to file the lawsuit.
“I don’t want anyone to go through what I felt the day I saw those pictures,” she said. “For me, I just wanted things to change, and when I saw those pictures I knew that I had to do everything I could to get someone to stand up and listen to me.”
This story was co-reported by National Public Radio (USA).Contributors to this story: Vlad Lavrov, Martina Keller and Thomas Maier
About this project:
Skin And Bone: The shadowy Trade In Human Body Parts is an eight-month project by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a global network of reporters who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories that cross national boundaries
ICIJ found the business of recycling dead humans has grown so large over the past decade that you can buy stock in publicly traded companies that rely on corpses for their raw materials.
Skin and bones donated by relatives of the dead are turned into everything from bladder slings to surgical screws to material used in dentistry or plastic surgery.
Distributors of the merchandise can be found in much of the world. Some are subsidiaries of billion-dollar multinational medical corporations.
ICIJ discovered that patients aren’t always told that the product they are getting originated from a corpse. this led to a more complex issue – how does the industry source the raw material it uses in its products?
The ICIJ’s investigation relied on more than 200 interviews with industry insiders, government officials, surgeons, lawyers, ethicists and convicted felons, as well as thousands of court documents, regulatory reports, criminal investigation findings, corporate records and internal company memos.
ICIJ also conducted analysis on registered tissue banks, imports, inspections, adverse events, and deviation reports filed with the Food and Drug Administration, the US agency that polices the trade. ICIJ obtained the data through records requests to the FDA.
Palantir donated the use of software and assisted reporters in analyzing and visualizing data, as well as provided interactive and still graphics for ICIJ and partner publications.
The project was unveiled at the Google Ideas INFO Summit.
For every singer who has made it big in the movies, there are dozens who haven’t. Jordin Sparks hopes she will fall into the former category.
“I’ve always wanted to act,” Sparks says, talking in a fast tumble of words. “I would love to be known as an actress, but I’d also love to be known as a singer who is really good at other things.”
Sparks, 22, is making the move to movies in a big way. she stars as the title character in “Sparkle,” a musical drama that is a remake of a fondly remembered 1976 film. as a major studio release, the movie would normally attract considerable attention. Add the fact that co-star and executive producer Whitney Houston died after filming, and you’ve got a film with a lot of eyes on it.
Valley native Sparks, who recently rented her first home in Glendale, is no stranger to acting, though not on this scale. she appeared in Valley Youth Theatre productions of such shows as “Cinderella” and “The Wiz” before capturing the nation’s attention as the winner of “American Idol” in 2007. she was only 17.
“I always knew acting was something I wanted to do, but music was my Number 1 love,” she says. “But this came along, and it was really strange.”
Strange, because everything just seemed to be so perfect. Sparks made her Broadway debut in “The Heights,” which required her to sing, dance and act. then, a few months before she heard about the remake, she rented the original “Sparkle,” which features Irene Cara and Lonette McKee as sisters and members of a fictional girl group.
“I fell in love with it,” she says. “I loved the story line, I loved the music. then when the audition came about, I just thought it was kind of weird. I watched the movie again, and I thought it was crazy, but I really look a little bit like Irene Cara. And the name: ‘Sparks’ and ‘Sparkle’? come on!”
Taken seriously
“Sparkle” director Salim Akil was impressed with Sparks instantly and not merely because she was a vocalist with a platinum-selling debut album (a sophomore album was less well-received).
“I think you have to have a certain level of creative intelligence to be able to do what Jordin did,” says Akil, who helmed the popular “Jumping the Broom.” “I don’t think it comes naturally just because you can sing. you have to want this to work, and you have to take it seriously. We’ve all seen what happens when a singer comes in and doesn’t take it seriously.”
Sparks took the whole process very seriously. With the help of a friend who is an acting coach, she went page by page through the script.
“I’d never been in something where I had to look past the words on the page,” she says. “I had to think about what the characters had gone through and really study every little thing.”
The result: an actress who came to the set ready to work and with a little extra.
“I memorized that script backward and forwards,” she says, laughing. “I didn’t only know my lines; I knew everybody else’s lines, too.”
Despite her inexperience as a film star, she instantly clicked with the cast and crew. before filming began, she spent weeks recording and working on choreography with co-stars Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter, who play her sisters and singing partners in the film.
“We were bonding and working together before we even came to the set,” Sparks says. “Once we were on set, we were thick as thieves because we had gone through all this other stuff together.”
Adding to her ease on the set was Akil, who she says offered a delicate brand of guidance.
“Instead of saying, ‘You’re doing this all wrong,’ he would say, ‘On this next take, can we try this a whole other way?’ I really responded to the way he worked, and I felt like we really bonded.”
For his part, Akil didn’t think newbie Sparks required any extra attention.
“Maybe she got that from others, but I didn’t approach her that way,” he says. “Once I cast you, I assume you’re doing your job and you’re competent. I didn’t feel the need to give her extra coddling. I treated her the same way I approached Carmen or Tika. we talked about character, and I watched her carefully create.”
Sparks will confess that she felt most at home in the film’s dynamic musical sequences, in which she sings such tunes as Curtis Mayfield’s “Look into your Heart” and R. Kelly’s “Love Will” and “One Wing.”
“I loved everything, but sometimes I was a little out of my comfort zone in the scenes where I’m just talking with somebody,” she says. “But in the performance scenes, it was, ‘OK! I am in my element!’ “
Story tweaked
Although the movie is a remake and retains some songs from the first film, it doesn’t follow the original note for note. The new film is set about 10 years later in the late 1960s, and the action is moved from New York to Detroit. Characters are tweaked: Satin, an underworld figure in the original, becomes a successful comedian played by Mike Epps.
Even though the character of Sparkle gives the original film its name, most of the movie’s vitality comes from the character of Sister, played by McKee. It provides a bit of an imbalance in the original, something noted by both Sparks and Akil.
The script by Mara Brock Akil aims to correct some of that; for instance, Sparkle now writes the group’s songs, a little plot device that wasn’t in the first movie. she is also more independent and driven.
“The original, basically, is really kind of Sister’s movie,” Sparks says. “Now, it’s more of Sparkle’s movie. Sister is more flashy, more sultry. Sparkle has the talent, but in the beginning she’s too nervous. but once Sparkle finds her voice, it kind of clicks and turns around.”
The director says that when his wife “wrote the script, she wanted Sparkle to take destiny into her own hand.”
“She speaks up for herself. we empower this woman, and we wanted her to have a certain depth that people can follow.”
Still, he acknowledges that Sparkle, especially in the initial stages of the movie, may not strike viewers as the most riveting character, and that some may misread the actress’ subtlety.
“Because she was so young when she had her rise on ‘American Idol,’ people have this image of Jordin being kind of quiet and soft,” Akil says. “Actually, she’s a very confident, determined and outspoken young lady. To watch her submit to the character of Sparkle was just a joy. some actresses could judge the character and say, ‘I’m not doing as much as Carmen and Tika.’ but Jordin cuts right through that with the subtlety of her performance.”
He points to a scene in which Sparkle first admits that she wants to be a star to boyfriend Stix (Derek Luke) before learning the plan is for her to sing backup to Sister.
“She tells such a deep story with just one look,” Akil says. “After that one moment, no one can question whether or not Jordin Sparks is an actress.”
For Sparks, the question already seems to have been answered. She’s signed on for her second film, an indie drama called “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” that will co-star another “Idol” alum, Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson.
“It’s a different character and a smaller role than Sparkle, and there’s no music in it,” Sparks says. “I think it will really be different for me.”
With her career on the verge of moving in another direction depending on how well “Sparkle” is received, you’d think Sparks would be all nerves. instead, she’s approaching it with the same kind of youthful determination that served her well on “American Idol.”
“I’m coming in the rookie not knowing how all of this works,” she says. “But they believed in me enough to give me this role, and I don’t want to let anybody down.”
FROM LYRICS TO SCRIPTS
Just because you can sing, doesn’t mean you can act. but some singers have made the jump to film with spectacular results; others, less so. Here’s how a few have fared:
Like a song
Doris Day: in a movie career that spanned 30 years, this box-office powerhouse displayed a knack for both comedy (“Pillow Talk”) and drama (“Love me or Leave Me”). she was so successful as an actress, many people forget that she first made her mark as a singer; 1945′s “Sentimental Journey” is the greatest of her pre-movie recordings.
Justin Timberlake: Former boy-bander took his time moving to the big screen, starting with supporting roles in offbeat projects (“Black Snake Moan”) before gradually to moving to center stage. By the time 2010′s “The Social Network” came along, he owned the screen like a pro.
Mark Wahlberg: first, he had to overcome the public’s perception of him as a rapping underwear model. then, he had to get the planet to forget that he was once known as Marky Mark. like Timberlake, he honed his work in smaller films before hitting the big time; in Wahlberg’s case, that arrived with “Boogie Nights.”
Beyonce Knowles: The woman knows how to have fun on film (“Austin Powers in Goldmember”). She’s not afraid to take a backseat when it’s better for the movie (“Dreamgirls”). And, the woman can really act; witness her ferocious portrayal of Etta James in “Cadillac Records.”
Tim McGraw: Despite being a headliner in the world of music, McGraw isn’t afraid to play second fiddle on screen. that could be why he’s carved out a solid niche in movies, with solid supporting roles in everything from “Friday Night Lights” to “The Blind Side.”
A broken melody
Mariah Carey: The diva made her starring debut in 2001′s “Glitter,” and it couldn’t have gone any worse. About a beaming singer, the movie didn’t just bomb; it virtually became synonymous with singers who star in bad films. To Carey’s credit, she didn’t run screaming back to the concert stage; she’s continued to act, but in smaller roles. Most notably, she did nice work as a counselor in 2009′s “Precious.”
Madonna: Madge actually got off to a not-bad start with 1985′s quirky “Desperately Seeking Susan.” but things went off the rails quickly, with one bad choice following another: “Shanghai Surprise,” “Bloodhounds of Broadway,” and, worst of all, the remake of “Swept Away.” unfortunately, Madonna isn’t merely in rotten films; she’s usually rotten in them.
Diana Ross: once upon a time, Ross was full of promise. that was in 1971, “Lady Sings the Blues” was released and she picked up an Oscar nomination for her film debut. but then came the bloated, self-indulgent “Mahogany” and a performance as the world’s oldest Dorothy in “The Wiz,” and that promise was soon forgotten.
Elvis Presley: Elvis made some terrific films in his career: “Jailhouse Rock,” “King Creole” and “Viva Las Vegas” among them. unfortunately, he made a lot more bad ones, and the opportunities for him to shine got harder as the scripts got increasingly worse. The King was a movie star; the sad thing is he could have been a great actor as well but he never had the chance.
Faith Hill: Mrs. Tim McGraw didn’t have the same good fortune as her hubby when it came to a big-screen career. Playing a beautiful robot shouldn’t have been a stretch for the gorgeous singer; then again, she had the misfortune to be playing said robot in the disastrous 2004 remake of “The Stepford Wives.” To date, it was simultaneously her film debut and her movie swan song.
The parents of the youth leader who was stabbed dead in Makati City before dawn Sunday while patrolling the streets said they are planning to press charges against the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines for taking their son’s eyes without their consent.
“We were so hurt. my son was treated like an animal. What they did was disrespectful,” said Jonie, a registered nurse and mother of the slain Jason Infante, 18.
The young Infante was the Sangguniang Kabataan chair of Barangay Valenzuela who was stabbed dead by a man whom he and two other barangay officials on patrol reprimanded for drinking alcohol in the open street.
Infante died in the hospital while his companions were seriously wounded. the suspect, along with his female companion, was later arrested and charged with murder.
Jonie recalled that after her son passed away at 10 a.m. on Sunday, members of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines, an organization helping those in need of corneal transplant surgery, managed to enter the morgue in Funeraria Filipinas on J.P. Rizal Street and extracted Infante’s eyes.
“It was theft. They took away someone’s valuable possessions. Now that my son had died, it was all that he had,” a tearful Jonie told the Inquirer in an interview at her son’s wake at Loyola Memorial Chapel in Guadalupe, Makati.
She said the family only learned that Jason’s eyes were gone on Monday when they saw him in the coffin for the first time and noticed a change in his face.
In a message posted on his Facebook account, the victim’s sibling Juan Paolo Infante, noted that “my brother had bigger eyes so it was evident that something was wrong.”
With the help of the embalmers at Loyola, it was discovered that Infante’s eyes had been replaced with a small cup and a plastic ball, he said.
Later, he said, the owner of Funeraria Filipinas, the manager of Eye Bank Foundation and a doctor from the Philippine National Police crime laboratory (who did the autopsy and medico-legal report) went to the wake and explained what happened.
Juan Paolo said that according to these people, Infante’s eyes were taken even without his family’s consent since it was supposedly allowed under Republic Act 7885 or the 1991 Organ Donation Act.
But he said his family later did their own research on that law and found no such provision.
“We would have given them Jason’s eyes. If we were just asked earlier, we would have liked the idea of giving his eyes to others in need. but the manner by which they took them was entirely wrong,” Jonie said.
In a statement, Dr. Miguita Padilla, founder and president of Eye Bank Foundation, apologized to the Infantes.
“We are deeply sorry for the distress the family may have experienced upon realizing that Jason’s corneas were retrieved by the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines,” she said.
“We are aware that amidst the grief no words of explanation will suffice at the moment to help soothe the pain of his family. We assure all that the retrieval of Jason’s corneas was done in good faith, in accordance with the mandate of the Eye Bank Foundation, and with utmost respect and care for Jason.”
Padilla said she visited Jason’s wake and gave the family the choice on what to do with the corneas that had been taken from the dead.
“We might donate his eyes just the same, but we still plan to file the appropriate charges against those liable,” said Jonie.
A recent report out of China was that of a death due to plastic surgery. what was most significant about this report, besides the obvious tragedy, is the procedure which ultimately resulted in the patient’s demiss. while deaths from plastic surgery procedures are extremely uncommon and have been reported in the past, most involve a cosmetic operation done on the body.such lethal occurrences are even more rare in plastic surgery of the face.
So, you’re seriously considering plastic surgery. But how do you pay for it all? 
This is the fourth installment of a four-part series.
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