Skin Hunters

The "Skin Hunters"^[1] ("Łowcy skór" in Polish) is the media nickname for hospital casualty workers from the Polish city of Łódź. The practice was widespread. Four people were convicted of murdering at least five elderly patients and selling information regarding their deaths to competing funeral homes, but almost every casualty worker was involved in selling information and it is claimed^[2] that many more were killing patients (directly or by slowing down the response/not doing due diligence). The price of the bribes paid to the killers was billed to the family of the deceased as an additional funeral charge. The perpetrators were apprehended in 2002. Their descriptive designation was coined by a newspaper article which first brought the story to the public's attention.