{"id":2877,"date":"2026-06-23T17:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:38:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:38:45","slug":"i-feel-tricked-california-woman-fears-mothers-body-donated-to-university-of-california-health-may-have-been-sold-for-israeli-military-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><span>University of California Health is denying reports that human bodies donated for research and education at UC San Diego in La Jolla were sold to the Navy and the Israel Defense Forces for military medical training.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2875\">Gas stations accused of using AI to boost California prices<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Such is a concern of La Jolla resident Kaia Gantzel. The body of her mother, Sari, was donated to UCSD after Sari\u2019s death in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Gantzel said the idea of donated cadavers being provided for a military effort \u201cfeels like the opposite of medicine and doing good. It\u2019s the last place we would want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>Reports from student journalists at <\/span><span>USC Annenberg Media<\/span><span> and UCSD\u2019s <\/span><span>Guardian<\/span><span> newspaper indicated that \u201ca significant number\u201d of cadavers in UC San Diego\u2019s body donation program were moved to USC in Los Angeles. According to the reports, the bodies later were sold to the Navy, which then sold them to the IDF under a contract managed by USC. This also was discussed in the documentary series <\/span><span>\u201cDirect From With Dena Takruri\u201d<\/span><span>\u00a0and reported on by <\/span><span>KPBS<\/span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, Heather Harper, a spokeswoman for <\/span>UC Health \u2014 which oversees six academic health centers including UCSD \u2014 countered those claims to <span>the <em>La Jolla Light<\/em> this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe remains loaned to USC are not being transferred or sold to the Israel Defense Forces,\u201d Harper said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>UCSD\u2019s body donation program, launched in 1968 to coincide with the opening of its medical school, uses human cadavers \u201cfor educational and scientific study \u2026 in a way consistent with the spirit of the good physician,\u201d according to the university.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The donation program, which receives 450 to 500 bodies per year, is the second-largest of its kind in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The USC <\/span><span>Annenberg Media report<\/span><span> states that UCSD \u201cprovides a significant number of bodies to USC that are sold for trainings with the Navy and the IDF\u201d and that the partnership has been in effect since 2017. Since that time, the report says, \u201cthe Navy has paid USC more than $860,000 for at least 89 \u2018fresh cadaver bodies,\u2019 32 of which were used specifically for IDF training at Los Angeles General Medical Center.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gantzel said her mother <\/span><span>\u201cwas always an organ donor \u2026 and she had Alzheimer\u2019s, so she wanted to plan ahead. So we started researching whether her brain could be used for Alzheimer\u2019s research. One of the doctors we spoke to said the [UCSD] medical school accepts bodies, so the entire family was happy about that. \u2026 It felt wonderful to have done something like this for science and medical research.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Gantzel contacted UCSD to see whether her mother\u2019s body was one of those loaned to USC. She said this week that she has not received a response.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re all upset to think her body wasn\u2019t being used for medical science, because being used for war is the last thing she would have wanted,\u201d Gantzel said. \u201cI had been such an advocate for this program, and I feel tricked.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2873\">Meta debuts glasses under its own brand at lower $299 price<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Representatives of UCSD declined to comment to the <em>Light<\/em> and directed questions to UC Health.<\/p>\n<p><span>Harper, the UC Health spokeswoman, <\/span><span>said <\/span>UC has a remains lending agreement with USC and that they are used in a course on medical education trauma surgical skills, conducted in a clinical setting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe USC course is attended by various licensed physicians and health care professionals, including those who serve in military medical corps,\u201d Harper said. \u201cThe skills they practice are essential to all health care professionals: how to treat traumatic injuries, control bleeding and save lives. The course allows participants to build medical skills and does not involve use of weapons to inflict trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAs a public university, UC\u2019s anatomical donation programs exist to advance education and research, focusing on health professional education, clinical training and research in service to public health,\u201d Harper added. \u201cThis work is only possible due to the generous gift that each donor chooses to make in an extraordinary act of service. UC honors and respects those gifts and is committed to ensuring that all donations are used ethically and with dignity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Once internal needs are met, she said, UC \u201cmay loan donor remains to clinical training programs that meet UC\u2019s standards for scientific and educational merit. \u2026 UC does not sell donated anatomical remains, and any suggestion otherwise is false.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Loaned remains from UC San Diego are returned there after studies are completed, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Information about the UCSD program says it \u201caccepts donations of human bodies for use by various institutions and individuals for education and research purposes\u201d and has goals of \u201cassisting the education of current and future physicians, other health care practitioners, anatomists, forensic scientists and mortuary technicians, [and] contributing to scientific research that will assist in development of procedures and\/or products with the intent of improving the human condition in biomedical and scientific contexts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>UCSD \u201cwill exclusively determine the manner in which a donated body and any data, including images, derived from the donation will be utilized,\u201d according to the university.<\/p>\n<p>Once a donated cadaver can no longer be used by UCSD, the remains are cremated and scattered or interred in a manner consistent with state law, the university says. In 2021, UCSD unveiled a memorial site to honor donors who have participated in the program.<\/p>\n<p>If UCSD cannot accept a body for a non-medical reason, \u201cwe will make every attempt to transfer the donation to another location within the UC system,\u201d UCSD states. \u2666<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2871\">3 killed in Highway 9 crash outside Saratoga<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A spokeswoman for UC Health denies claims in news reports that many bodies were used for that, which the local resident says &#8216;feels like the opposite of medicine&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A spokeswoman for UC Health denies claims in news reports that many bodies were used for that, which the local resident says &#039;feels like the opposite of medicine&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877\"},\"wordCount\":947,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877\",\"name\":\"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":575},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=2877#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest","og_description":"A spokeswoman for UC Health denies claims in news reports that many bodies were used for that, which the local resident says 'feels like the opposite of medicine'","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training","datePublished":"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877"},"wordCount":947,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877","name":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-23T17:38:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d68bbf1116b6cd054b0d2b5abbbfd523.webp","width":1024,"height":575},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=2877#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018I feel tricked\u2019: California woman fears mother\u2019s body donated to University of California Health may have been sold for Israeli military training"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}