Texas medical school caught illegally liquefying dead bodies in grim 'water cremations'

A medical school in Texas has been caught illegally liquefying dead bodies after using them for research - without the permission of the deceased or their family. 

During an inspection in October, staff at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and at Fort Worth were found to have been carrying out the grim practice known was 'water cremation'. 

A new bombshell report reveals that medical school was not only studying unclaimed human remains without permission, but later turned the bodies into liquid. 

The gory process is referred to as 'final disposition of human remains using alkaline hydrolysis'. 

In the alkaline hydrolysis process, chemicals, water and heat break down human remains, leaving behind a liquid that is discarded.

The liquid is then sent to a wastewater treatment facility. 

Bone and teeth pieces are left behind, and those are pulverized into ashy left-overs that can be collected and returned to family members.

So-called 'water cremations' are illegal in Texas, and 25 other states, which only allows for bodies to be buried or cremated traditionally. 

'This practice is not authorized under Texas state law and constitutes a serious violation of the standards governing the lawful disposition of human remains,' the state said in the letter to the medical school. 

Legalization of water cremations has also faced oppositions from religious groups, with the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, saying the process 'fails to treat the body with dignity and respect.'

Medical school spokesperson Andy North countered that the Texas administrative code allows for alkaline hydrolysis to be used when disposing of bodies after medical research. 

However, the state Funeral Commission shot back that state law, which doesn't allow water cremations, overrules the code and threatened to fine the program $5,000 a day and suspend its operating license it didn't stop water cremations.

The school wouldn't say how long it had been liquefying bodies through its 'Willed Body Program, but 2020 budget documents show the school planned to install two alkaline hydrolysis units to dispose of bodies donated by the Dallas and Tarrant medical examiner's offices. 

Since 2018, Tarrant County gave the Health Science Center with bodies of 'indigent and unclaimed minor children or adult descendants' to save money on burials and cremation, reported local news outlet KERA.

Disposal of the bodies was mandated by the state, but the school was saving $1 million over five years by doing it themselves instead of paying an outside company to do it. 

Water cremations stopped taking place at the Fort Worth facility on Sept. 16, their spokesman confirmed, the same day NBC released a story detailing how the school was studying bodies without permission.

However, the bodies were not just being used by that school. 

In many cases, human remains were sold to other schools, medical companies and the US Army to train students and doctors. 

In the fallout to the investigation, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth has fired the officials the people who ran the program, which is now shuttered.

'The intent of the program is to educate future physicians, scientists and other health professionals and improve the quality of health for families and future generations,' the school's website states.

'We are committed to operating all programs with transparency, integrity and the highest ethical standards, and we are dedicated to maintaining trust in our institution. 

'We hope these actions can ensure our educational studies are made with every effort to show dignity, grace and respect.'