Terms of reference for organ-retention inquiry published
The Government today published the terms of reference for the inquiry into the organ retention scandal.
The inquiry by medical law expert Dr Deirdre Madden is due to report to the Minister for Health by December 21 with the Government's response to demands from parents who discovered that organs from their dead children had been retained and disposed of without their consent.
This includes incidences where pituitary glands were sold on by hospitals to pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Madden now has the power to inquire into the policies and practices of organ removal and disposal that were in place in hospitals here since the 1970s, and examine how the hospitals dealt with bereaved parents.
She will also be able to make recommendations on what changes should be made to practice or policy in the future.
