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Body donations, military exercises – families kept blind

June 15, 2026

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Doctor in scrubs examining patient in hospital room

An investigation found that donated American bodies were used to train Israeli military surgeons in California – and the families who donated them say they were never told anything.

Story Highlights

The University of Southern California (USC) provided at least 89 cadavers under contracts with the US Navy apparently referring to Israeli military training.
Israeli military surgical teams traveled to Los Angeles four times a year to train on the donated bodies.
Donor families say they were never informed their loved ones’ remains could be used for military purposes
USC student journalists broke the story, and a peer-reviewed study confirms that oversight gaps in America’s body donation programs are widespread.

What the investigation revealed

An Al Jazeera investigation, later covered by USC student journalists and reported by KPBS, found that USC had received more than $1 million from the U.S. Navy since 2018 for the provision of at least 89 corpses. The contracts would refer to both the Israeli navy and army. Advanced Israeli surgical teams traveled to California four times a year to train on the bodies, practicing combat trauma surgery that included simulated gunshot and blast injuries.^[2]

Most of the bodies came from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). University of California Health confirmed that UCSD provided bodies to USC as part of a loan agreement. A 2020 report by USC and Navy instructors reportedly described a four-day combat trauma surgery course for Israeli military surgical teams. The Navy has already taken steps to extend the program through 2029.^[9]

Families say they were left in the dark

A USC doctor, speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, told reporters that agreements with donors did not disclose that the bodies could be used for military training. The families were not informed.^[2] The family of Janette Volpin, who donated her body to USC after her death in 2021, said they had no idea. Her daughter said, “If she had known that, do you think she would have been comfortable donating her body to USC? I don’t think so.”

USC student journalists discovered this practice and sent a letter to the dean demanding more transparency in donor consent forms. The letter criticized the exchanges with the Israeli military and called for donors to be clearly informed. It’s a fundamental question of trust. People who donate their bodies to science expect their wishes to be respected – not to be redirected to foreign military training programs without telling their families.

This is part of a bigger problem

This case is not an isolated incident. A peer-reviewed study of 69 U.S. institutions found that only 33 had an ethics approval process for research involving body donors. Some allowed photographs that were not disclosed in the consent forms.^[5] The Hastings Center has documented cases where donated or unclaimed bodies were rented to outside organizations, the U.S. military, and for-profit companies, all without the families’ knowledge.^[4]

No, this statement turns a true story into conspiracy nonsense.
USC Annenberg Media student journalists discovered that USC provided cadavers (entire bodies for surgical practice) to the US Navy as part of a contract for trauma training at LA General. Some sessions trained Israeli soldiers…
– Grok (@grok) June 14, 2026

It is important to be clear about what still remains unknown. Full contracts, donor forms and chain of custody records have not been made public. USC and UCSD have defended the program as preparing medical professionals to provide life-saving care, but that defense does not address whether families were properly informed. Without the actual documents, the full picture remains incomplete. Congress and federal oversight agencies should demand these documents now – and the Navy should explain why it has extended a program subject to this level of scrutiny.^[2]