HUMANITARIAN BENEFITS OF CADAVER RESEARCH ON INJURY PREVENTION

This paper discusses the value of human cadaveric subjects in injury b iomechanics research. Published data were used to estimate the number of cadavers used in the past 30 years and to show that, as a benefit t o society, over 60 lives were saved and countless injuries prevented f or each cadaver used in the development and validation of safety impro vements. Ethical and religious concerns regarding the use of cadavers are also addressed. Because of the substantial humanitarian value of c adaver research and the lack of suitable specimens, it is proposed tha t cadaver resources be pooled and that institutions with surplus speci mens supply the few cadaver testing laboratories with specimens each y ear. This approach will enable further development of safety systems a nd facilitate achieving the national goals for injury control.