Washington, D.C.-based George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences has stopped accepting donated bodies because it can't identify as many as 50 cadavers, according to The Washington Post.
Up until now, the medical school had run a "willed body donor program," in which individuals could donate their bodies for classroom instructional use. As part of the program, the cadavers are used for up to two years, at which point they are cremated and either returned to families or buried at a nearby cemetery.
But after losing track of the identities of these cadavers, the medical school will no longer be able to return the remains to families.
"As the dean and a former medical student whose education benefitted greatly from the altruism of a body donor, I extend my deepest and most sincere apologies to all of the affected families and the entire [School of Medicine and Health Sciences] community," said Jeffrey Akman, MD, dean of the medical school.
"These families are our priority, and we are working with them to resolve any concerns," he added, according to a video on the school's website, WTOP.com reports. GW University officials have said they'll try to identify the bodies through DNA testing of relatives.
The medical school identified the problem last fall and is currently conducting an internal review.
The medical school uses between 30 and 40 cadavers for instruction each year. However, current students will not be affected by the situation because the school has enough bodies from prior donations and on loan from other institutions.