If you’ve ever wanted a vial of Ronald Reagan’s blood, now’s your chance — although this sale is being called unethical.
A vial supposedly containing the late president’s blood is up for auction on PFCauctions.com, which is based in the United Kingdom.
The website claims the blood was taken from Reagan following the assassination attempt against him in 1981.
The vial is pictured on the website with a label of the president’s name. An included letter from the seller says his late mother worked at the lab that tested the blood for the George Washington University Hospital after Reagan was shot.
The most recent bid on the site is a little more than $9,900.
Some are outraged over the auction, calling it unethical.
“If indeed this story is true, it’s a craven act and we will use every legal means to stop its sale or purchase,” John Heubusch, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, said in a statement.
Dr. Joseph Giordano, who was head of the GW Hospital’s trauma team in 1981, said the auction is outrageous.
“You don’t go selling people’s specimens or bodily fluids,” said Giordano. “You have no permission to do that. It’s unethical.”
“Any individual, including a President of the United States, should feel confident that once they enter into the care of a medical system their privacy and rights are held inviolable,” Heubusch said.
Reuters gives this account of the vial’s origin:
The seller wrote that the vial came from his or her late mother, who took it from her workplace at Maryland-based Bio-Science Laboratories, where blood work and testing were done for George Washington Hospital.
The seller said he or she had contacted the California-based Ronald Reagan Library and Museum, which is run by the late president’s foundation, months ago and had been told that Reagan’s family would like to have the vial given to them.
“I told him that I didn’t think that was something that I was going to consider … and that I was a real fan of Reaganomics and felt that President Reagan himself would rather see me sell it rather than donating it,” the statement said.
A spokeswoman for the foundation declined to comment on the seller’s claim to have spoken to the library.
