Parents' group shocked at organ revelations

Parents for Justice says it is shocked to learn that sand was used to make up the weight of deceased children after organs were removed during post mortem examinations.

The finding is contained in an unpublished 28-page chapter of the Dunne Post Mortem Inquiry, which has been released by the Department of Health and Children following a Freedom of Information request by the campaign group.

Parents affected by the organ retention controversy say the use of sand to replace organs meant they would not have noticed any difference in their child's weight after a post mortem examination was performed.

The unpublished chapter from the Dunne Inquiry report also says organs were allowed to deteriorate in storage and that their disposal was sometimes crude.

The report describes new consent procedures introduced by hospitals since the controversy erupted in 1999 as 'brutal' and 'fundamentally flawed'.

And it finds that the legal basis of any consent at a time of distress for patents has still not been addressed.

While hospitals told the inquiry they followed international practice, none of the children's hospitals provided details of the practice, or indicated where it could be found, the report says.

The inquiry, chaired by barrister Anne Dunne, was set up by the government in 2000 and was wound down in 2005, without completing its work.

Doctors not to blame - pathology group

It says that organ retention was necessary for medical reasons and there was no evidence of malice or ulterior motive by doctors.

In response to the revelations, the Faculty of Pathologists said this evening that the motivation of doctors at all times was to minimise grief at a time of loss for parents.

It said sand was used at time to replace organs in order to maintain the characteristics of the body.

The faculty said that the more recent Madden Report found pathologists operated in line with best international practice and that no blame should attach to any of the doctors involved.

New guidelines have been in place for eight years, it added.