Atlanta-area patients who received grafts of human tissue from body parts stolen from funeral homes are being tested for hepatitis, syphilis and HIV/AIDS. Health officials say the material grafted into the patients was not properly screened for the infections, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that it and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe the risk for infection is low, the FDA recommends that hospitals and physicians who engrafted the tissue contact patients and advise them of the need to be tested. The newspaper said the FDA has also ordered the recall of bone, tendon, skin, heart valves and other tissues distributed by Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J. Prosecutors allege that more than 1,000 bodies were looted — with funeral homes’ permission — without regard for disease or cause of death and without donors’ or their relatives’ knowledge or consent, the newspaper said. © Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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