ROME — Furore and finger-pointing spread through Italy's medical community after a video of pathologists dancing in front of a corpse, mid-autopsy, to '80s hit Gioca Jouer went viral. 

 In the video, two-dozen odd people follow Claudio Cecchetto's feel-good song's instructions — 'Salutare! Autopstop! Starnuto! Camminare!' — from the head of and the seats in a lecture hall. A corpse partially covered by a white sheet lies on a table at the front of the hall. 

 The video was filmed during Live Autopsy, a first-time session organized by Cristofor Pomara, professor of forensic medicine at the University of Catania, at what he referred to as this year's Italian Society of Pathology and Insurance (SIMLA) national convention, held in Malta. 

 Per the Fatto Quotidiano, Pomara defended the dance party as "a de-stressing moment necessary to alleviate the tension from an extremely delicate training operation." 

 As the corpse shown in the footage was donated for the purpose of medical training, its autopsy was "absolutely detached from the professional context of forensic medicine," he said.

  And "if anything," said Pomara, SIMLA "should be recognized for the achievement of having offered a live training session on a cadaver for the first time in its history." 

 SIMLA president Francesco Introna called the video "reprehensible."

 And SIMLA distanced itself from the Malta conference in a statement, underscoring that its official training courses are "organized exclusively in the national territory." 

 Filippo Anelli, president of the National Federation of the Order of Surgeons and Dentists (FNOMCEO), told ANSA that the pathologists' dance moves were "disgraceful, from an ethical point of view."

 He threatened disciplinary proceedings on the provicincial level for the dancing doctors — while Pomora, the Catania professor, threatened legal action against whomever released the tape. 

 "I can only apologize on behalf of myself and everyone who was present," he said. "Not so much for the incident as the fact that it was illegally circulated and fed to the media in a way which might cause some upset." 

 jlb