Editorial 1: UCLA must ensure body program is reformed

Reports on the UCLA cadaver scandal that ran as Yahoo
News’s top stories last week are now filed in the
“Oddly Enough” category.

The L.A. Times’ stories now run in the California section,
not the front page. The media feeding frenzy at the medical center
has withered.

But despite a downturn in public interest and outcry, UCLA must
remain diligent in ensuring that its willed body program is totally
reformed.

So far, UCLA deserves some credit for how it has handled this
terrible situation. University police deserve praise for their
detective work. The administration has been open in sharing
information with the community. And a former governor (and former
state attorney general) has been placed in charge of reforming the
program.

As scrutiny diminished in 1996, UCLA missed clear warning signs
of serious problems with the Willed Body Program.

That cannot happen again.