Two articles from the London Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk
Saturday 18 September 1999
ISSUE 2072 Friday 26 January 2001
Organ scandal hospital 'sold' children's glands
Alder Hey Children's Hospital
News - Department of Health
Royal College of Pathologists
General Medical Council
THE hospital at the centre of an organ-retention scandal admitted today that it gave a pharmaceutical firm body parts from living children in return for financial donations.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, said thymus glands removed from youngsters during heart operations were sent to the company for research purposes between 1991 and 1993.
The mother of a baby boy whose organs were removed and stored by Alder Hey without her consent said she was appalled at the latest disclosure. Health Minister John Hutton said the development was "absolutely horrifying".
The revelation comes only days before the findings of an independent inquiry into the organ retention will be presented to Parliament. The company, which has not been named but is thought to be French, donated money to the hospital's cardiac department after receiving the thymus glands.
An Alder Hey spokeswoman said: "In some cases to carry out complex heart surgery it is necessary for the thymus gland to be removed. The hospital can confirm that for a brief period between 1991 and 1993, these were made available to a pharmaceutical company for research, and that we are aware that, during that period, contributions were made to the trust's cardiac department." She refused to confirm how many children were involved.
Paula O'Leary, of the families' support group Pity2, said she was "appalled" by the disclosure. Mrs O'Leary, of Bootle, Merseyside, asked: "What right have they got to treat our children like that?
"It is bad enough that they treated them with disrespect after their death, but disgraceful that they did this when they are alive. I keep saying, 'There can be nothing worse to come out', but each new week brings an horrific revelation."
The Health Minister, John Hutton, said it was "absolutely horrifying" that organs were removed from children and given to pharmaceutical companies without parents being informed. He said: "As a parent I think consent is the important issue here. If the parents have consented then it's fine, but if they haven't then it's totally unacceptable."
The Government would be setting out its proposals dealing with this issue and the earlier organ retention controversy at Alder Hey in the near future, he added.
The thymus gland, a vital part of the immune system, is made up of two parts and lies in the upper area of the chest, close to the heart. The two lobes, named thymus because they resemble a bunch of thyme flowers, produce healthy cells to attack foreign substances around the body.
12 January 2001: Family still haunted by loss of baby's organs 28 November 2000: Parents allowed to bury organ samples 10 November 2000: Parents sue hospital over removal of organs 1 October 2000: Parents demand inquiry into child organs scandal 1 October 2000: Children's organs are found in lab store 18 September 1999: Hearts taken from 11,000 babies
Hearts taken from 11,000 babies
By Sean O'Neill
Press releases -
Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry
The Bristol case: A serious departure from safe professional standards
General Medical Council
United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust
HOSPITALS have removed and retained, without parents' consent, the hearts of at least 11,000 children who died of cardiac disease in the past 40 years.
Large collections of damaged and malformed hearts are stored at major hospitals across the country. The organs were removed from the bodies of children during post mortem examinations for which consent was given.
But permission was not sought from families to store the hearts for decades to carry out medical research. Relatives did not know that they were burying their children without their hearts. The largest collection is held at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, which has amassed 2,500 hearts since the late 1950s.
In London, the Royal Brompton Hospital and Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital have catalogued and stored some 2,000 hearts each. There are 1,500 kept in Birmingham and a further 1,000 in Leeds. Hospitals in Southampton, Newcastle, Manchester and Bristol have retained about 500 each.
The widespread practice of tissue retention came to light following the scandal of high death rates in paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Helen Rickard, who uncovered the practice when she discovered that her daughter Samantha had been buried without her heart, will give evidence on Monday to the public inquiry into events at Bristol. Mrs Rickard, whose 11-month-old daughter died in 1992, obtained a coroner's permission for the return of her baby's heart four years later.
She said: "I thought I had buried my daughter after the operation but discovered she was not completely laid to rest. If I had known Samantha's heart had been taken out I would have insisted it was put back before she was buried."
Mrs Rickard thought her case was an isolated one until the United Bristol Healthcare Trust admitted last February that it had retained the hearts of 170 children who died at the Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1976 and 1995. The extent of the practice nationally was revealed to the Bristol inquiry by Prof Robert Anderson, president elect of the British Paediatric Cardiac Association.
Prof Anderson, who amassed the collection at the Royal Brompton and is now responsible for that at Great Ormond Street, said the failure to consult parents was a result of "cock up" rather than conspiracy.
He told the inquiry: "I understand the distress that has been caused. I think I can speak on behalf of pathologists interested in congenital heart disease throughout the country, that none of us were retaining hearts with any intention of creating distress.
"None of us would have wanted to do that. It was an act of omission by us not realising that appropriate permission had not been granted. Certainly, when the whole thing broke, I was surprised that we had not thought of this earlier and we should have done.
"I think that the advances we made in surgical treatment, in understanding, in diagnosis, in the past 35 years would not have been possible had we not had access to this collection."
The Bristol inquiry, chaired by Prof Ian Kennedy, is expected to recommend when it reports next year that permission is obtained from families before doctors retain organs or tissue.
Bristol Royal Infirmary has already introduced new consent forms explaining why doctors might wish to retain organs. The Royal College of Pathologists is drawing up guidelines to ensure that parents are kept fully informed.
Micheala Willis, chairman of the Bristol Heart Children Action Group, said any parents with concerns should contact the hospitals where their children were treated. Mrs Willis, whose son Daniel died after surgery at Bristol, said: "People thought the problem was just confined to Bristol, they did not realise that hospitals nationwide were retaining organs. It will come as a shock. There should be parental consent in all cases. Often, if parents understand the reasons organs are retained, there is no problem."
James Wisheart, the surgeon at the centre of the Bristol scandal, has admitted not seeking the explicit consent of parents for the removal of hearts from children who died. A spokesmen for Alder Hey said its organ retention policy was under review and Great Ormond Street said it had used a new consent form since a family complained.
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