Organ scandal hospital storing 400 foetuses

LONDON, England -- Up to 400 foetuses are being stored at a British hospital already under investigation over the secret removal of children's organs.

A spokesman at Alder Hey hospital, in the north-western city of Liverpool, confirmed the foetuses, from still-births and abortions, had been sent by local maternity hospitals between 1989 and 1995.

"They were sent for post-mortem by the hospital. The question is what happened after that and why they were kept," he said.

Local health service bosses said that concerned parents had swamped Alder Hey's switchboard asking whether their foetuses had been kept.

The government ordered an independent inquiry last year when it was revealed that between 1988 and 1995 staff at Alder Hey removed and stored organs from more than 800 dead children without their parents' knowledge or consent.

The foetuses were discovered during that inquiry.

Britain's Press Association said they were collected by Professor Dick van Velzen, the pathologist at the centre of the organ scandal.

In September, police in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia issued a warrant for his arrest after discovering children's body parts in a warehouse there.

Alder Hey, whose reputation has been badly dented by the organ scandal, said that the collection of tissue by pathologists was not uncommon.

But the hospital spokesman said it was unclear whether the women involved had given their consent and medical officials are now considering whether to try to trace them.

"We have in many cases a name but that does not mean we know where the family is," the spokesman said.

Hugh Lamont, spokesman for the North West health service executive, insisted local parents had known about storage of the foetuses for several months. Mr Lamont said the matter would be dealt with by the official Redfern inquiry report, currently being studied by health ministers.

Reuters contributed to this report.

British doctor sought after child body parts found
September 30, 2000

Alder Hey Hospital

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