Lawsuit: Alabama Harvested Dead Inmates’ Organs

The Birmingham News reports:

The families of men who died in Alabama prisons and were returned without all of their organs sat in court Tuesday, watching as lawyers for the University of Alabama at Birmingham argued that the school’s contract allowed them to keep organs after autopsies. The hearing had mentions of Nazi Germany, rats, artificial intelligence and illegal organ harvesting.

A UAB lawyer said the contract between the Alabama Department of Corrections and the university—which was terminated after the lawsuits were filed—was a legal contract between two state entities.

Nothing the university did while performing the autopsies fell outside of the contract, he said. “Alabama law is absolutely clear,” said UAB attorney Jay Ezelle. “It is a state contract between two state agencies.” He added that UAB, under that agreement, was allowed to keep organs for testing purposes. He didn’t clarify what type of testing.

Read the full article. Photo: Gov. Kay Ivey.

Alabama gave UAB permission to harvest organs from dead prison inmates, university claims https://t.co/Ou5YYo2y17

— AL.com Birmingham (@ALcomBirmingham) February 25, 2025