The Coombe Women's Hospital is aware that the practice [removal of pituitary glands] did occur at the hospital for a very short period of time.
However, due to limited post-mortem records retained for that period, the hospital has been unable to identify the patients involved.
The hospital has recently received new information from Pharmacia which it is currently investigating in an effort to identify patients.
The Master of the Coombe, Dr Sean Daly, said that he regretted that this practice occurred without patients consent and that it would not happen today. However, he said it was important to reassure families that it was done with the best of intentions which was to help children with growth hormone deficiency and that it was not done for monetary gain.
This was an international programme set up in response to a global shortage of growth hormones and each country received growth hormone protein pro rata to the level it had donated.
Dr Daly said that if the Coombe can identify the patient post-mortems involved that he would hope to meet the families so that he could offer them as full an explanation as possible.