Networked Knowledge - Media Report

[This version of the report has been edited by Dr Robert N Moles
Underlining where it occurs is for editorial emphasis]

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On 19 August 2001 The Sunday Program on Channel 9 reported that they had been vindicated in their report into the situation at the Glebe Mortuary.

Sunady said that staff at Sydney's Glebe morgue acted unlawfully in removing parts of bodies for research, and carrying out experiments such as hitting and stabbing bodies, an independent inquiry has found. The Walker Inquiry, conducted by senior Sydney barrister Bret Walker, SC, was established following revelations on Sunday earlier this year about the widespread misuse of human body parts for research.

Former workers at the morgue (known as the NSW Institute of Forensic Medicine) revealed how body parts were regularly removed without permission from bereaved next-of-kin, and then used by outside doctors and medical researchers. The head of the Institute, Professor John Hilton, admitted to Sunday's Helen Dalley that he had used bodies, without permission, to test the effects of stabbing.

"I have certainly used a surgical knife and inserted it, you can call it stabbing if you like, onto a rib, through a rib or between a rib in order to satisfy myself how much force is needed to do this," Professor Hilton said. Professor Hilton was stood down immediately after the story was broadcast.

The NSW Minister for Health, Craig Knowles, announced this week that the Institute would be abolished and replaced by a new statewide authority, the Forensic Medicine and Pathology Authority. A non-medical scientific director will replace Professor Hilton as head of the Glebe facility. Professor Hilton will be allowed to return as a forensic scientist, in a non-managerial role, because he has acknowledged the need for practices at the Institute to change.

The Walker Inquiry found at least 42 cases in which long bones and joints had been taken from dead bodies for scientific experiments — not for the purposes of a genuine post-mortem.

"Those body parts were removed for the purpose of medical research and not for the purpose of ascertaining the manner and cause of death," Mr Walker said. This was unlawful conduct, constituting a criminal offence under the Human Tissue Act. Mr Walker said it was "far too late" for any prosecution to take place for the offences, and noted that many of the pathologists and registrars involved in the research knew nothing of the origin of the body parts and were conducting valuable scientific research.

Mr Walker found that Professor Hilton's views, while wrong, were "sincerely held."

The Walker Inquiry confirmed that a series of experiments had taken place at the morgue, including hitting a donated body on the head with a hammer to replicate an injury to a suspected homicide victim. The experiment was unlawful because it was not a coronial post-mortem. However, the experiment "should not attract moral criticism" because it was done for scientific research. "Their mistake illustrates a long-standing deficiency within the medical profession generally, and among pathologists in particular [for generations] of adequate legal instruction concerning the use of dead bodies and human remains."

The Inquiry also confirmed that donated bodies had been stabbed with scissors and knives during experiments. These experiments were not authorized by the Anatomy Act and were therefore unlawful, though no criminal offence was committed.

The Inquiry found that the common practice at the Institute of removing brains at post-mortems, without the permission of family members, was not illegal. But Mr Walker acknowledged he had received many complaints from relatives of deceased persons about their "brusque" treatment at the hands of morgue staff, and "obfuscation or untruths" about the use and disposal of body parts. "I found most of these complaints to be inherently credible," he concluded.

The Inquiry condemned "deficient" management practices and record-keeping at the Institute. Mr Walker makes 34 recommendations that include changing the law to clarify the use of dead bodies and removed organs, and the rights of relatives. Mr Walker also recommended that standards of decency should be expressly stipulated for the conduct of all post-mortem examinations.

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