Summary
Organ Retention 1948–1988
12. The heart collection started
in 1948. The period in question can be conveniently referred to
as the ‘pre van Velzen era’. Throughout this period, hearts
were collected usually without parental knowledge or lack of objection
having been established. The evidence indicates that it was normal
practice to remove organs at post mortem examination and take samples
for microscopic examination, thereby enabling the organ to be returned
to the body for the funeral. However, any organs such as the heart
or brain which had to be fixed before they could be examined, necessarily
meant that not only were they usually retained without consent,
but they could not have been returned to the body because they would
take between six and eight weeks to fix.
13. The practice we have described
seems to have been of general application. The medical justification
is a manifestation of the paternalistic approach, namely the policy
of restricting the freedom and responsibility of parents in their
supposed best interests. In mitigation, it is stated that the heart
collection has served to reduce the mortality rate following cardiac
surgery for some serious conditions and malformations from 33% to
3%. This benefit cannot be ignored, but it is no justification for
ignoring the parents' rights.
