Tainted Tissue Story

The recent evidence suggesting that a New Jersey tissue recovery company sold illicitly harvested and untested tissue that was used in thousands of medical procedures has ignited a national firestorm and has put countless patients at risk. While extraordinarily disturbing, tainted tissues allegations are not limited to the recent gruesome Biomedical Tissue Services story. As early as 1998, reputable institutions such as UCLA Medical Center were accused of running illegal "chop-shops" that stole body parts from cadavers and sold them on the black market. The most recent tainted tissue story began in 2001 when Michael Mastromarino conspired with Joseph Nicelli to steal tissue samples from clients at Nicelli's funeral home and sold them to tissue supply businesses.

2002 – Mastromarino and Nicelli begin three years of illegally harvesting tissues from cadavers for Biotechnical Tissue Services
2004 – The NYPD begins investigating the sale of a funeral home Nicelli owned after detectives discover an operating room used to remove tissue
2005 – The new media discovers the police investigation of funeral home
October 2005 – The FDA recalls all tissue samples sold by BTS, and ordered tests for anyone who received a transplant
November 2005 – Medical giant Medtronic declares it received 13,000 tainted tissues of which 8,000 were implanted in patients
February 2006 – The Food and Drug Administration orders BTS closed
February 23, 2006 – Mastromarino, Nicelli, Lee Cruceta, and Christopher Aldorasi are indicted on 122 criminal counts
March 23, 2006 – A Nebraska man files suit against BTS claiming he caught hepatitis B and C after back surgery due to tainted tissue samples

If you or someone you know was the recipient of the widely-distributed and untested tissue sold by Biomedical Tissue Services, you have the right to seek justice. You may even be entitled to financial compensation for your physical pain and emotional anguish, but you need to act quickly. Don't let greedy companies get away with this kind of deplorable and potentially deadly deceit - make sure to contact an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer today.