The foundation of former US President Ronald Reagan has expressed outrage after a vial said to contain his blood was put on sale in an online auction.
British-based PFC Auctions says the blood sample was taken from Reagan after the failed 1981 assassination attempt against him.
The PFC website put the latest bid for the vial at £6,270 ($9,910) on Tuesday.
John Heubusch, executive director of the foundation, said that, if true, it would fight to stop "this craven act".
"If indeed this story is true, it's a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase," he said.
He said the hospital where Mr Reagan had been treated had assured the foundation that an inquiry was under way into "how something like this could possibly happen".
PFC Auctions, based on Guernsey in the British Channel Islands, displayed a picture of the vial on its website bearing a label showing the president's name.
The lot includes a letter of provenance from the seller who says their late mother worked at the laboratory which carried out blood testing for George Washington University Hospital after Mr Reagan was shot.
"These articles have actually been in my family's possession since... the day that President Reagan was shot in Washington DC," the letter reads.
Mr Reagan suffered a punctured lung and internal bleeding when he was shot by John Hinckley Jr outside the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Mr Hinckley was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and is being treated at a psychiatric hospital.
Mr Reagan, who went on to serve two terms as president, died at the age of 93 in 2004.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18155930
Jim, want a drink?
Jim, want a drink?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Jim, want a drink?
So the owner admits his/her late mother was a creepy shit with zero professional ethics.
Well, anything for a buck.
Well, anything for a buck.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: Jim, want a drink?
Absolutely grotesque.
If this isn't a hoax, than this is stolen property. (It was stolen from the hospital.)
Surely there is some law that would prohibit PFC Auctions from selling stolen property.
If this isn't a hoax, than this is stolen property. (It was stolen from the hospital.)
Surely there is some law that would prohibit PFC Auctions from selling stolen property.
Re: Jim, want a drink?
It may not be stolen; it might have been disposed of by the hospital and picked from the trash. Either way, I don't think Reagan's foundation or family would have any interest in that property as it was given to the hospital with no expectation of it being given back. There might be some recourse against the hospital for failure to properly handle it based on the expectation when it was given, but I don't think there is any ownership interest in the blood.
Perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge of the law in this area might opine further, but I do recall cases where the blood or other biologicall samples were used commercially (Moore v Regents, e.g.) and no rights in the samples were found.
Perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge of the law in this area might opine further, but I do recall cases where the blood or other biologicall samples were used commercially (Moore v Regents, e.g.) and no rights in the samples were found.
Re: Jim, want a drink?
At minimum she violated laws regarding the disposal of bio-hazard materials. And shes an amoral scum.
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato
Re: Jim, want a drink?
The violation of disposal laws/regulations may or may not be true depending on the laws of DC, but I don't recall those charges ever being levied against the researchers who took Mr. Moore's cells in California (or in other similar cases).
As for being amoral scum, I think it's pretty self evident.
As for being amoral scum, I think it's pretty self evident.
Re: Jim, want a drink?
That suggests to me that it wasn't "taken from the trash" but stolen from the hospital....The lot includes a letter of provenance from the seller who says their late mother worked at the laboratory which carried out blood testing for George Washington University Hospital after Mr Reagan was shot.
I don't think that The Reagan Foundation has legal standing on the theft issue...
But I think that George Washington University Hospital definitely does, (the hospital that Mr. Reagan was rushed to after the attempt on his life) and if I were involved with The Reagan Foundation, I would lean on them to press their case...
What kind of a legally recognized "auction site" is it anyway where you can sell bodily fluids?
If I jerk off can I auction off my sperm on this website?
Can I auction off a Kleenex John Lennon supposedly blew his nose with, or one of Madonna's tampons?
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MajGenl.Meade
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Re: Jim, want a drink?
Hillary, just drink it all and become president! Oh, in the name of God! Now I know what it feels like to BE God!
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Re: Jim, want a drink?
Jim--dpending on the facts, I agree that the hospital may have a theft case or may not.
As for your listing of things that might be auctioned, none of them would surpise me (except your own ejaculate--who would bid on that?
). But I've seen clothing worn by celebrities and things like swizzle sticks used by them auctioned off; it's a small step to tampons or tissues. It sees like some people will buy anything.
As for your listing of things that might be auctioned, none of them would surpise me (except your own ejaculate--who would bid on that?
). But I've seen clothing worn by celebrities and things like swizzle sticks used by them auctioned off; it's a small step to tampons or tissues. It sees like some people will buy anything.Re: Jim, want a drink?
I've got some brain matter that was scraped off the back of an open top Lincoln Continental Limousine in Dealey Plaza....
Re: Jim, want a drink?
(except your own ejaculate--who would bid on that?
Back when I was in College I did donate to a sperm bank....
So there may be some Boys From Brazil running around...
Re: Jim, want a drink?
Jim--this site shows some pretty strange items auctioned off; it's ABC so while I can't vouch for the accuracy, I think it's liikely to be true.
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/joh ... 14793837#1
BTW, weren't the Boys from Brazil cloned from some cells of Adolph?
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/joh ... 14793837#1
BTW, weren't the Boys from Brazil cloned from some cells of Adolph?
Re: Jim, want a drink?
Adolph Coors?
No.
Adolf Hitler.
Ja.
No.
Adolf Hitler.
Ja.
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Jim, want a drink?
Yes, that was the story...BTW, weren't the Boys from Brazil cloned from some cells of Adolph?
But for some odd reason when I told the girl I was dating at the time, and a couple of my friends, they immediately drew that analogy....
Re: Jim, want a drink?
'Reagan blood' auction cancelled after US criticism
A vial said to contain a sample of the late US President Ronald Reagan's blood has been withdrawn from sale by an online auction house.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation had expressed outrage over the auction, in which bidding had reached over $30,000 (£19,000).
Guernsey-based PFC Auctions said in a statement that the vial would now be donated to the Reagan foundation.
The foundation said it was pleased the blood would stay "out of public hands".
PFC Auctions, based on Guernsey in the British Channel Islands, said in a statement that the seller they were representing had bought the blood at a public auction in the US in February 2012 for $3,500.
The seller had now agreed for the item to be withdrawn from sale and donated to the foundation in "a considerable financial gesture", it said.
According to the auctioneers, the seller is a "serious collector of presidential memorabilia" who did not think the Reagan foundation had any interest in the blood that he had bought.
The re-auction had "highlighted the importance of this historical artefact" the anonymous seller told them.
"I would personally be delighted to see this important artefact put on public display by the foundation", the seller said.
The lot included a letter of provenance from the original seller who said their late mother worked at the laboratory which carried out blood testing for George Washington University Hospital after Mr Reagan was shot in 1981 by John Hinckley.
Mr Reagan, who went on to serve two terms as president, died at the age of 93 in 2004.
Hinckley was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity and is being treated at a psychiatric hospital.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”