SEATTLE -- Aggressive, misleading tactics to acquire brains -- that's what a whistleblower from the King County Medical Examiner's Office charges.

We broke the story last week, and exposed how King County was profiting from trading brains to a private company.

The county shipped 180 brains at about $8,300 for each brain. The county collected around $1.5 million.

Now Team 7 Investigators reveal allegations that the coroner's office may have improperly collected private medical records of dead clients as well.

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Video: Coroner's Office May Have Improperly Collected Private Records

Dr. Richard Harruff has been King County Medical Examiner for about five years. He's the "lead" on something called the Stanley Project. It's a little-known program where the county offers human brains to a medical research company in Maryland.

Tonight, new allegations the county handed over reams of medical and mental health care histories associated with those corpses -- without consent from families.

Part of Don Halberg's job while he worked for the King County Medical Examiner was to collect medical histories of the dead. Stanley Medical Research was paying King County anywhere from $12,000 to $17,000 a month to identify (and deliver) what this e-mail called "excellent brains." That's a brain of someone lying in the morgue who had a history of schizophrenia or bipolar disease.

MORE ON THIS STORY 'Excellent Brains' E-Mail [pdf file] Lawsuit Filed Against Stanley Institute [pdf file] Medical Examiner's Statement On KIRO 7 Report Public Health Director On KIRO 7 Report

To prove mental illness, Halberg said the Medical Examiner ordered that private medical records be collated and mailed to Stanley, as well.

"People were trying to obtain housing documents, financial records, all kinds of stuff using those subpoena forms," said Halberg. "Myself and a couple other investigators raised concerns on that, if that was legal. We didn't obtain those records because we needed more information on cause and manner of death. We obtained those records because they were needed someplace else."

Halberg, who has been involved in a lawsuit against King County, said there was significant pressure on staff to get grieving families to consent to "brain research."

An e-mail from management to staff reflects that, saying "this year ... has allowed us to already turn over 40 brains in the first six months in a contract that expected 50 for the entire year! That is great work."

"I don't know if you call it enthusiasm, but the Chief Medical Examiner made it very clear we wanted brains for that project."

We asked, but King County has yet to locate any signed medical records release forms despite having sent at least 180 brains to Stanley.

MORE ON THIS STORY Text Of Agreement Between Stanley Institute, King County M. E. [pdf file] Money Paid To King County M.E.'s Office By Stanley Institute E-mail From County Official Regarding Legality Of Agreement State Law Regarding Consent E-mail link to King County Health Director Alonzo Plough, who oversees M.E.'s Office (and KIRO Team 7 Investigators)

Virginia Hendricks, whose son Jim's brain was harvested by King County, said didn't sign a consent form "unless it was disguised as something else."

Hendricks: "No."
Halsne: "You've never seen that?"
Hendricks: "No."
Halsne: "So you would have never signed it?"
Hendricks: "No."

None of the "donation" families we contacted even imagined medical records would be seized by the county and handed to a private company.

"It seems to me they wouldn't have to ask anybody. They could just go ahead and do it and nobody would be aware of it until there was someone like you that came by," said Virginia Hendricks.

King County is defending itself (not on camera), saying it got oral consent for brain donation on the phone and didn't need to disclose the exchange of what they call "grant money" in return for the brains.

Halberg said King County's claim it receives "grant money" is a farce.

"Potato, pa-tah-toe," said Halberg. "They're getting monetary kickbacks for delivering organs. That's what it is. It is what it is."

The Medical Examiner posted a response to our investigation on his Web site.

The posting defends King County and the Stanley Institute, saying they use "consent procedures consistent with state law."

However, a class-action lawsuit was filed last week in the state of Maine against Stanley.

The lawsuit says Stanley "failed to obtain informed consent from surviving families and loved ones of the deceased before taking the organs."

At least one family tells KIRO Team 7 Investigators a similar lawsuit is coming King County's way.