Hi all, you might be interested to know that there was recently a huge
scandal in Britain where a hospital had been removing and storing (for
'research') the organs of dead babies without the knowledge or consent of
their families. The inference at the time was that the practice is
widespread here, although there are now 'guidelines' regarding permission.
Lynne
> ----------
> From: Glenn Kirkindall[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: Glenn Kirkindall
> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 9:15 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Family sues over missing heart.
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I found this disturbing news in the recent issue of NEWS FROM INDIAN
> COUNTRY.
>
> Glenn Kirkindall
> Portland, Oregon
> USA
>
> Family sues over missing heart.
>
> Heart of Laguna Pueblo woman returned two months later.
>
> Relatives of a deaf Laguna Pueblo woman killed in a traffic
> accident are
> pursuing legal action because the woman's heart was removed without their
> knowledge by the Office of the Medical Investigator. The family of Alicia
> Waseta held a second burial - for her heart - two months after the first
> funeral because no one at the OMI told the family that the 21 year old
> woman
> 's body had been returned to them without a heart. The heart was removed
> during an autopsy.
> "The most important part of her was not there," said Gloria
> Waseta-Candelario, the dead woman's aunt.
>
> Alicia Waseta, a recent graduate of the New Mexico School for the Deaf,
> was struck by a vehicle as she tried to cross a Santa Fe street on Sept.
> 19.
> The vehicle belonged to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was being driven
> by
> one of the agency's criminal investigators. Waseta died about two hours
> after being struck and a report issued later by the OMI said she died of
> blunt trauma to the head.
>
> Waseta-Candelario and Harriet Waseta, Alicia's mother, said they were
> both horrified to learn the OMI had the dead woman's heart until Nov. 9,
> when an OMI employee called Waseta and asked to keep the heart for
> research.
>
> Ted Barudin, an attorney for the Waseta's family, has filed tort claim
> notice against the OMI. Tort claim notices have also been filed with the
> state Highway Department and Transportation, the city of Santa Fe and
> Santa
> Fe County over the woman's death.
>
> An OMI spokesperson said he would not comment about the case because of
> pending legal sought by the family. A November letter from the OMI's
> director to Barudin says the young woman's heart was kept to determine
> whether a heart condition, caused by Noonan's syndrome, could have
> contributed to her death.
>
> The family did not grant permission for the autopsy that was performed
> by
> OMI. State law says agencies can perform an autopsy when an individual is
> believed to be a victim of a crime.
>
> In their spiritual tradition as members of Laguna Pueblo,
> Waseta-Candelario and Harriet Waseta said they believe that a loved one
> does
> not find peace or rest in the afterlife unless their body is whole at
> burial.
> "We don't believe in giving up anything but people from other cultures
> believe that, too" she said.
>
> OMI follows policies and procedures based on state law, said Giammo,
> who
> serves as OMI spokesman and is director of public affairs for the
> University
> of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
> "We do our best to respect cultural sensitivities," Giammo said.
>
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