Organs sent to waste disposal firm

The support group representing families whose relatives had organs removed without their knowledge or consent last night sought…

The support group representing families whose relatives had organs removed without their knowledge or consent last night sought an immediate meeting with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, following revelations that one hospital sent organs to a private waste management firm for incineration.

Parents for Justice said it also wanted to meet the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, as soon as he returned from holiday to convey their horror at "this obscene practice".

"It shows complete disregard for the human origin of these organs and also for the grief and sensitivity of next-of-kin, and is a harrowing nightmare for the families involved," said the spokeswoman for the support group, Ms Fionnuala O'Reilly.

She confirmed that two families had contacted Parents for Justice after they were informed by Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, that the organs of a baby and an adult had been sent for incineration along with hospital documents to a private waste disposal company in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.

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In the case of the baby, it died at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, and it has now been disclosed that its brain was sent for incineration by Beaumont Hospital.

"Parents for Justice is very tired of the drip-feeding of revelations and they have made us all the more determined to maintain our position that the health professionals involved in the retention, disposal and sale of organs to pharmaceutical companies should be named in the report at the end of the first phase of the two-tier Organs Retention Inquiry," Ms O'Reilly said.

"Our position is non-negotiable, and if we can't get guarantees on that we will not co-operate with the forthcoming inquiry," she added.

She said the new information also raised questions about why organs were transferred from one hospital to another without parents being informed, and Parents for Justice, which represents 2,000 families, would be seeking to establish the extent of the practice.

No spokesman was available for comment from Beaumont.