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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 20 november 2019

Jury awards $58M in

lawsuit against body

donation firm

By JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — A civil
jury has awarded $58 mil-
lion Tuesday to 10 people
who alleged a now-closed
body donation facility mis-
handled the donated re-
mains of their relatives and
deceived them about how
the body parts would be
used. The trial against Ste-
phen Gore, owner of the
Biological Resource Cen- This undated photo provided
ter of Arizona, ended with by the Maricopa County
jurors finding in favor of 10 Sheriff's Office shows Stephen
of 21 plaintiffs, awarding Douglas Gore, the owner A selection of meth seized by the Pennington County Sheriff's Office's narcotics enforcement
$8 million in compensatory of a now-closed Phoenix team is shown in an undated photo provided by the sheriff's office on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019.
Associated Press
damages and $50 million in body donation facility who
in 2015 pleaded guilty to a
punitive damages. felony charge for his role in In South Dakota, meth fighters
An attorney for donor fami- mishandling donations of
lies said he believes jurors human remains.
did not rule in favor of 11 Associated Press welcome any help they get
other plaintiffs because they were weren't told the
they didn't testify at trial. bodies would be used in By STEPHEN GROVES drug — a key goal of the guns to protect them-
Gore's business was ac- ways they would not have Associated Press campaign — is essential to selves in drug deals that
cused of fraud by claiming approved. Jurors were SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — stopping the surge. can lead to violence, he
the donated bodies would shown the business' price South Dakota's new an- In South Dakota, the Drug added.
be used for medical re- list, showing, for instance, ti-drug campaign drew Enforcement Administra- "I've been in this business
search, when it knew some that a torso without a head plenty of mockery on so- tion said meth seizures are a long time, and I would
of the remains would be sold for $4,000. cial media this week for its up a third over last year. say I've never been more
sold for military testing, such Timothy O'Connor, an at- "Meth: We're on it" slogan, Other agencies have concerned about the
as crashes and explosions. torney for Gore, declined but according to local po- made their own seizures safety of my officers and
A woman whose son's re- to comment on the verdict. lice, the attention couldn't and seen similar jumps. highway patrol officers of
mains were sold for military He had argued that cli- have come at a better The drug is known for be- encountering dangerous
testing was awarded $6.5 ents signed consent forms time. Law enforcement ing especially addictive individuals," Milstead said.
million. Donor families also granting permission to dis- agencies in South Dakota and police said it's often After Congress passed
said they were promised sect donated bodies, and are contending with a tied to violent crime. In laws aimed at clamping
the cremated remains of that it was legal for the fa- drug that is now cheaper Minnehaha County, which down on over-the-counter
relatives and received box- cility to make a profit. and more potent, lead- had more than 1,000 meth medications that could
es with what they thought Gwendolyn Aloia, who was ing to a surge of use in arrests last year, Sheriff be used to make meth,
were their loved ones, only awarded $5.5 million, said the state and across the Mike Milstead said meth the supply evolved from
to later discover the bodies the verdict shows that the Midwest. Officers said pre- is involved in many of the home-grown labs to Mexi-
were sold to third parties or body donation industry venting people from ever homicides he works. Both can cartels shipping in the
were still at the facility. needs more government taking the highly addictive dealers and users carry drug.q
The families contended regulation.q