Medical museum in Philadelphia overhauls policies on human remains to meet modern ethical standards
August 21, 2025
A medical museum in Philadelphia is redrawing its policies about collecting and displaying human remains. The Mutter Museum announced it is limiting its acceptance of additional specimens and working to follow “evolving modern medical ethical standards” in handling the 6,500 remains in its collection. Many are body parts and organs collected between about 1840 and 1940 during autopsies and surgery because they were considered helpful in medical education. The museum is also working to “de-anonymize” its collection by looking into the personal histories of the remains. The goal is to exhibit them in the context of medical history, bodily diversity and the tools and therapies used to treat them.
