The British government yesterday promised "fundamental changes" to medical procedures. This followed the revelation that glands removed from children during heart operations at a Liverpool hospital were given to a pharmaceutical company, which later donated money to the hospital's cardiac department.
The British Health Secretary, Mr Alan Milburn, described the disclosures at Alder Hey Children's Hospital as "totally unacceptable" and he said a lack of respect for patients would not be tolerated.
Next week he will publish the findings of an inquiry into the hospital's practice in the 1980s and 1990s of removing dead children's organs without parental consent, or in some cases because of a lack of understanding of procedures by parents. The hospital admitted that surgeons removed thymus glands, which produce cells and antibodies to fight infection and withers in adulthood, from young children during heart surgery between 1991 and 1993.
Some of the glands were passed on to the pharmaceutical company Intix Sangstat, which donated £5 for each gland. The hospital said parental consent was probably not sought but insisted commercial considerations did not influence decisions to hand over glands.
The hospital also said the supply of glands reflected practices across Britain at the time, and if the glands had not been donated they would probably have been incinerated.
The hospital would not confirm how many children were involved.
A consultant paediatrician at Alder Hey, Dr Mark Caswell, said the thymus gland was removed to give surgeons better access to the heart during cardiac operations, and donating the gland enabled the pharmaceutical company to carry out important research.
He also apologised for causing any distress to parents. "Until 1993 these thymus glands were supplied to a pharmaceutical company for them to produce drugs which would allow us to treat children with aplastic anaemia," he said.
"In 1993, there were concerns about this being a commercial transaction, even though there was only a small token payment being made for the thymus glands."
Members of Pity2, a group supporting families affected by the organ retention scandal at Alder Hey, said they were appalled by the latest revelations. Ms Paula O'Leary, a member of the group from Liverpool, said: "I keep saying, `There is nothing worse to come out', but each new week brings a horrific revelation."
Mr Ian Cohen, who represents 150 families concerned about the retention of children's organs at Alder Hey, said he always suspected more stories would emerge about the use of organs and glands by the hospital.
"We have been trying to put pressure on Alder Hey for 15 months to tell us about whether pharmaceutical companies were involved in paying money in exchange for organs, but they have always said `Not to the best of our knowledge'," he said.