Man Sues Over Stolen Bone Placed in Neck

Sep 26th, 2007 FORT WORTH, Texas -- A man who found out the bone implanted in his neck to relieve back pain was stolen from a corpse is suing a medical technology company and several tissue processing businesses, including two in Tennessee.
James Livingston, 44, of Weatherford, does not seek a specific monetary amount in his suit filed in New York last month against Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. for fraud and negligence.
Other defendants are Memphis, Tenn.-based Sofamor Danek Inc.; Knoxville, Tenn.-based Spinalgraft Technologies Inc.; Alachua, Fla.-based Regeneration Technologies Inc.; Fort Lee, N.J.-based Biomedical Tissue Services; Michael Mastromarino and Joseph Nicelli.
"How can you sell parts out of a body, just like parts from a stolen car?" Livingston said.
New York authorities believe Mastromarino, owner of now-defunct Biomedical Tissue Services, made deals with funeral directors to remove bones, tendons and heart valves from corpses without notifying their families or screening for disease. He has pleaded innocent to charges that include a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison.

Its sad to hear that people are stealing bones and other parts of the body from dead people. this article is important because some people aren't aware that they could have a stolen bone or tissue in their body. Even though they did recall some of it and scanned some of the bones, a disease could have already been transmitted. It persuades the reader because the title is very eye catching.