MERCER COUNTY Officials clear doctor in human remains case

The retired surgeon used the limbs to do research on surgical treatments.
MERCER, Pa. -- Authorities have concluded that a doctor who had various human limbs in two freezers in his barn did nothing wrong.
Pennsylvania State Police said the investigation into the case involving Dr. Ranulfo V. Gracilla has ended.
It turned out that Dr. Gracilla, a retired orthopedic surgeon, was using the limbs to sharpen his surgical skills.
The limbs were on loan from the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown to the doctor, who is a clinical assistant professor at NEOUCOM, where he volunteers to teach anatomy and surgical anatomy courses.
NEOUCOM confirmed that the limbs were on loan to Dr. Gracilla, who makes frequent trips to the Philippines to perform free surgeries. He used the limbs to test the use of various surgical procedures to be used on joints.
Common practice
The practice of lending body parts is common for medical schools, a NEOUCOM spokesman told The Vindicator, adding that all body parts are carefully catalogued and must be returned when the medical research is completed.
The limbs were inadvertently discovered by plumbers hired by Dr. Gracilla to do some work in a barn.
They unplugged a freezer to move it and opened it to see what was inside. They saw what they thought to be a severed human foot and promptly called police.
The limbs were confiscated and sent to a forensic laboratory in Erie County, where it was determined they posed no health risk, police said.
Police interviewed NEOUCOM representatives as well as officials from the Human Gifts Registry and concluded that Dr. Gracilla didn't violate any criminal laws by conducting his research at his home.