Title: The Dark Side of the Body Business: A Story of Fraud and Deceit
As the medical training industry grows, so does the demand for human cadavers. But not all companies that supply these bodies play by the rules. Meet Dr. Aalok Nassiri, a former chiropractor turned owner of Med Ed Labs, a company that provided bodies for medical training.
Nassiri’s rise to success was meteoric. He built a thriving business, supplying bodies to the US Army, the Defense Health Agency, and medical technology companies. But his success was built on a foundation of lies and deception.
In 2008, Allstate Insurance accused Nassiri of running a fraudulent scheme, faking medical records and billing the company for unnecessary tests and treatments. The courts found him guilty, and he lost his chiropractor’s license. But Nassiri refused to give up. He started Med Ed Labs, a nonprofit corporation, and began providing bodies for medical training.
But his new venture was marred by controversy. The company was accused of neglect, misrepresentation, and fraud. In 2020, Allstate sued Nassiri and Med Ed Labs, alleging that he was using the company’s corporate accounts for personal expenses, including family vacations, shopping trips, and his wife’s false eyelashes.
Nassiri’s partnership with the University of North Texas Health Science Center, the Willed Body Program, was a key part of his business. The center had a surplus of unclaimed bodies, which Med Ed Labs could use for its training programs. But the partnership was rife with problems. The center would often lease out bodies without consent from the deceased or their families, and Med Ed Labs would then use these bodies for its training programs without properly disclosing the true nature of the donations.
In 2021, the center’s staff began to clash with Nassiri over his request for heads, arms, and legs, which the center deemed excessive. They also expressed concern about the company’s packaging of human remains in reused boxes and its failure to properly dispose of ashes.
The partnership deteriorated further when Med Ed Labs failed to cremate and return the center’s bodies as promised. The center eventually fired the manager of the Willed Body Program, Claudia Yellott, and transferred its regulatory duties to the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
The controversy surrounding Med Ed Labs and the University of North Texas Health Science Center has implications for the body donation industry as a whole. The lack of regulatory oversight and the lack of transparency have led to a culture of exploitation and abuse. For the families of those who have donated their loved ones’ bodies, the consequences are devastating.
As for Nassiri, he claims that he is no longer in the body business, having filed for bankruptcy just days before his lawsuit against Allstate was set to go to trial. But his legacy of fraud and deception will likely continue to haunt him, and the industry, for years to come.
