High funeral cost sees many choosing to donate their body to medical science

A Dundee lab is being inundated with requests from poverty-stricken residents desperate to avoid funeral costs by donating their body to science.

Sue Black, of the Centre for Anatomyand Human Identification at DundeeUniversity, said around 80 bodies are now taken per year for use by medical students up from 20 a decade ago.

She said it is not unusual for people in deprived areas such as Dundee to get in touch because they do not have the £3,000 to £4,000 required for a proper burial.

But Professor Black said bodies’ acceptance is not guaranteed. “It is important families do not see bequeathal as an alternative to paying for a funeral, although some people use it that way,” she said.

The figures were uncovered by an inquiry led by a Commons committee amid fears people are facing “funeral poverty”.

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