Visitors Give Bodies Exhibition Rave Reviews Despite Controversy

Ignoring controversy and the disapproval of the state Anatomical Board, hundreds of people lined up Thursday to see "BODIES: the Exhibition," a display of specially preserved cadavers and body parts at the Museum of Science and Industry.

The exhibition opened two days early, despite a ruling against it Wednesday by the board, which oversees the use of cadavers by the state's medical schools. By 4:30 p.m., 1,391 people -- nearly three times usual Thursday attendance -- had purchased tickets to see it, said Tanya Vomacka, a spokeswoman for MOSI.

Roy Glover, the medical director for the exhibition, said the decision to open the exhibition early was not because of fear of a court order, but because the displays were ready and there was "a great deal of excitement" over the opening.

Judging from visitors' reactions to the exhibit, its educational value far outweighs ethical concerns.

"I've never seen anything like it in my life," said Joe Poquette of Lakeland, who visited the exhibition with his mother, stepfather, wife Debbie, and their 4-year-old son, Trent. "It's a learning experience. I don't feel there's anything unethical at all. I feel people would bring their kids in to see what happens in the human body."

The museum is the first in the United States to show "BODIES: the Exhibition," which cost at least $25 million, Glover said. It consists of 20 bodies and more than 260 organ or partial-body specimens, preserved by a technique called "plastination" that replaces water in the tissues with a liquid silicone rubber. The bodies or body parts then last indefinitely and can be dissected for study.

In "BODIES: the Exhibition," the various organs and systems of the human body -- circulation, respiration, digestion, the nervous system -- are laid bare for visitors to see in all their detail. Visitors walking through the exhibit are able to examine the specimens up close, pointing to various features, as in a display on muscle layering, where a body posed as if running, had its muscles dissected away from the bones, showing underlying tendons and ligaments.

Although some of the presentations might seem startling -- one body was cut vertically in half, revealing the inner organs from the brain to the rectum -- no one seemed squeamish. Comments like "powerful" and, "How did they do that?" were heard throughout the galleries.

Heather Barnitz of St. Petersburg, a pharmaceutical sales representative and 1985 graduate of Lakeland High School, said she did not find it shocking.

"I thought it was fantastic. I loved the ability to see the organs and the way they're connected. It's not like looking at a picture," she said.

The organs and cadavers are on loan to Premier Exhibitions of Atlanta from Dalian Medical University in China. The university has said they were unidentified and unclaimed bodies. The Anatomical Board expressed concern about the absence of consent by families to display the bodies.

Glover, a retired professor of anatomy at the University of Michigan Medical School, said he was disappointed with the board's ruling, but he said Premier and MOSI had satisfied all the board's legal concerns. The vote, he said, was because "they didn't like what we were doing."

Lynn Romrell, Anatomical Board chairman, said in a statement Thursday that the board would take no further action beyond asking the Florida Legislature ". . . to set forth a clear statement of consequences when entities choose to disregard the statutory requirement of board approval, was well as to address whether these kinds of exhibits should be allowed."

Dr. Frederick Paola, an instructor in the bioethics department at the University of South Florida Medical School, asked whether a different set of rules for use of bodies in China lets Premier and MOSI off the hook.

"If you can't do something like this in the States with an unidentified body, should Americans be able to profit from an advantage the Chinese have that we don't?" he said.

Other similar exhibits have appeared at museums in the United States, Europe and Asia and have drawn complaints from medical ethicists about the display of human bodies for public viewing. But there was no sign of protest at MOSI on Thursday.

Glover acknowledged there is a risk that exhibitions of this kind could be sensationalized. He said this is not his intent.

"I told the company, I'm not going to work with you guys if you're going to do crazy things like drive bodies around in cars and make them wave at people," Glover said. "A primary concern has been respect for the dignity of the bodies. In my mind, the benefit derived from informing and educating the public is worth the risk."

Paola agreed that the way the bodies are displayed matters.

"If they're trying to educate the public in a way that's never been done before about the working of the human body, I guess it's OK," he said.

Glover said the skill with which the displays had been prepared was noteworthy.

"(The Chinese) are the best in the world. It takes unbelievable skill and patience. There may be a couple of people in this country who could do this, but there's not much interest," he said.

The exhibition included examples of diseased organs, such as brains that had suffered strokes, gallstones or cancerous tumors. The reaction to one of those displays obviously had a visceral effect.

Museum personnel reported that a pack of cigarettes, with just one missing, was left on a display case containing lungs darkened and diseased by smoking. The display had a similar effect on Poquette.

"You get to see things on the inside you're doing to your body on the outside," said Poquette, a transporter with Lakeland Regional Medical Center. "I'm a smoker. I'm thinking about quitting."

Cary McMullen can be reached via e-mail at cary.mcmullen@theledger.com or by calling 863802-7509. Material frorm The Associated Press was used in this report.