A class action has been filed against Johnson & Johnson, Empire Anatomical Services, Depuy Mitek, Inc., and certain individuals on behalf of all persons who are closely related to a person whose remains were donated to UCLA's Willed Body Program while Henry Reid was the program's director between 1997 and 2004. The action alleges that the defendants have engaged in the practice of buying and selling whole and dismembered human remains without regard for the rights of families of the deceased individuals, in violation of California law and the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The action seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, and disgorgement of all profits wrongly made.

Named plaintiff Carol Francis Martin alleges that her husband's remains were provided to the UCLA Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles upon his death. The program, also known as UCLA's Willed Body Program, commonly tells persons who might be interested in participating that the Medical School faculty is most appreciative of the bequest and that access to anatomical material is a basic essential to research and teaching in the medical sciences. As part of the donation, the Martin family was allegedly assured that the remains would only be used by UCLA. They were also assured that, after Mr. Martin’s remains had been used, they would be cremated and the ashes scattered in a rose garden at El Toro Memorial Park, Lake Forest, California. The Martin family allegedly never received any indication that any part of Mr. Martin's remains would be subject to unauthorized removal for sale for profit.

The action alleges that the defendants have systematically engaged in this course of conduct, mishandling human remains in a manner that would be offensive to any ordinary person. Defendant Ernest V. Nelson has been quoted in the national media as saying he entered UCLA’s Medical Center twice a week with a saw and collected knees, hands, torsos, and other body parts needed by the other defendants.

The plaintiffs allege that they were deceived into believing that the remains of their loved ones were being used by UCLA medical students and researchers for the advancement of science. Instead, their loved ones were allegedly being disassembled and farmed out for profit. The action alleges that the defendants joined together and illegal multi-state enterprise centered around the sale of these body parts-- in violation of the U.S. Health & Safety Code. In circumstances where individuals are found to have conspired together to undertake illegal activity of this nature, the RICO Act allows triple damages.

The U.S. cadaver trade is a little-known business that operates within the rules and regulations of the U.S. Health & Safety Code. There is little governmental oversight given to the trafficking of human remains-- they are often allegedly shipped via common ground transportation in unmarked packaging. Director Henry Reid was arrested Saturday, March 8, 2004, for illegal activities involving the commercialization of human remains.