Open Record: Forever Lost

Children's Wisconsin's irreversible mistake; donated brain forever lost

Children's Wisconsin says it accidentally ‘discarded’ the frozen portion of a young woman's donated brain.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. - A Menomonee Falls couple donated their daughter's brain for science, only to learn the hospital threw part of it out. In this episode of Open Record, FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn shares the unexplained error that has Children's Wisconsin apologizing to a grief-stricken family. You'll learn how the whole brain wasn't lost. However, according to the researcher who asked for it to be preserved, it was the most important part. Also in this episode, we talk to Dr. Jeffrey Nirschl with the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center about the importance of brain donation for advancing scientific research.