Covid Victim Reportedly Dissected at Pay-Per-View Autopsy Event Without His Family’s Consent

The family of a man who died of the coronavirus is claiming he was autopsied in front of a live paying audience without their knowledge or consent.

NBC affiliate KING 5 reports that the body of David Saunders, a 98-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was dissected and studied in a mid-October educational event organized by Jeremy Ciliberto, founder of DeathScience.org. The demonstration was described as part of the traveling “Oddities and Curiosities Expo,” and the public could pay $500 to attend as the dissection took place at the ballroom of a Marriott hotel in Portland.

The dissection was part of a series of autopsy demonstrations that were protested by medical examiners who condemned the public display as unethical and disrespectful to KING5. Saunders’ corpse reportedly wound up being part of the expo after his body was donated to Med Ed Labs, a Las Vegas company that solicits cadavers for scientific research.

According to KING5’s latest reporting, Med Ed Labs sold Saunders’ body to Ciliberto to the horror of the local funeral home director and Saunders’ widow, Elsie. Ciliberto claimed he was given consent to use Saunders’ corpse this way, though Med Ed Labs claims that Ciliberto was “beyond” dishonest with them, and Saunders family says they only found out about this thanks to KING5’s reporting on the story.

Saunders’ family told Daily Mail they are considering legal action since they thought his body was going towards medical studies. Since Saunders’ died of Covid, his dissection also raises concerns about how many people might’ve been exposed to the virus while they were up close as his body got cut up.

Watch above, via KING5.