Consumer action group Public Citizen is asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop the practice of using brain tissue, also known as dura mater, from cadavers to assist with surgery. The group claims that the technique increases the risk of spreading Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the human form of mad cow disease. Brain tissue is sometimes removed from donors and used to replace tissue damaged during brain surgery.

Between 250 and 300 people are infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease annually in the United States. Because the disease tends to remain dormant for years before causing symptoms, Public Citizen is concerned that tissue donors may unknowingly be infected.

Public Citizen's petition asks the FDA to recall all currently available donor brain tissue. The petition points out that the World Health Organization advises against using brain tissue unless no viable alternative exists. In addition, the United Kingdom has already banned the practice.