Human leg shipment to Chile hobbled by legal limbo

A shipment of 30 human legs imported from the United States for doctor training in Chile has been stuck in a Santiago warehouse for over a year in legal limbo, the South American country's health authority said Tuesday.

The legs have been held at Santiago airport pending a Supreme Court decision on whether they can be released to the importer: Chile's private Surgical Medical Training Center (CEMQ).

Commenting on an article in El Mercurio newspaper about the unusual holdup, the health authority said that legally, "bodies intended for teaching and research must come from donations made in Chile."

The CEMQ is challenging that decision, and a Supreme Court ruling is expected this year.

Medical schools typically use bodies unclaimed from morgues or hospitals, and sometimes cadaver donations.

According to a 2019 study by the Austral research university in Chile, most higher education institutions in the country are finding it hard to source body parts for their anatomy labs, partly due to a scarcity of donors.