Tainted Human Tissue in Local Hospitals

March 17, 2006 (WPVI) -- The problem of tainted tissue that surfaced last month at a hospital in Atlantic County New Jersey has spread to three hospitals in Philadelphia.

Three patients have been notified that they received human tissue that could be tainted with disease. The patients are from Jefferson, Temple, and Hahnemann Hospitals. They are understandably upset.

The tissue came from a company that did business with biomedical tissue services of Fort Lee New Jersey.

Prosecutors say BTS acquired body parts from funeral homes and sold them illegally without proper testing.

A published report says one of those funeral homes is located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

The owner declined to comment on the allegation.

It's a ghoulish "tales of the crypt scenario" that now involves local hospitals like Thomas Jefferson and could affect hundreds of patients in the Delaware Valley and their families.

Officials at Jefferson confirm that eight patients have been notified that they may have received potentially tainted human tissue during medical procedures.

One patient at Temple University Hospital and another at Hahnemann have also been notified.

Attorney Christopher Placitella says he's been contacted by hundreds of patients from the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys who may also be affected.

Michael Mastromarino, is at the center of the firestorm. He owns Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Mastromarino and his partners have been charged with supplying tissue banks with body parts of questionable origin.

Prosecutors say they acquired the body parts from funeral homes, in some cases without family permission, and that the parts weren't properly screened.

Now, thousands of patients are left wondering if they've been exposed to life threatening diseases like AIDS, cancer and hepatitis.

BTS allegedly bought body parts from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Louis Garzone Funeral Home in Kensington is one of them. We tried to speak to Garzone, but he said he was busy with a funeral and had no comment on the allegation.

Jefferson got its possibly tainted tissue from a tissue bank called Life Cell Incorporated.

The hospital released a statement Friday saying that when it was notified by Life Cell, it in turn notified its doctors who notified their patients.

The statement says Life Cell has set up testing for all of the affected patients.

Placitella says some may be in for years of testing and anxiety as they wait for a definitive answer. This is a growing story that may eventually impact 10's of thousands of patients nationwide.

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