|
A distraught mum has told how a North hospital
removed her dead baby's brain without permission . . . then sliced it up
like meat.
The discovery was made by Kim Stephenson while she
was still coming to terms with the death of her two-year-old daughter
Chelsea Watson.
Kim, 36, and partner Paul Watson, 44, then faced
further heartache when they had to exhume their child's body and re-bury
it with the missing organ . . . which had been sliced into pieces for
experiments.
The couple's nightmare began when Chelsea died from
Sudden Death in Epilepsy, or Sudep.
After being ill all weekend, Chelsea was found
unconscious in bed after suffering a massive fit in November, 1999.
Staff at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary
battled in vain to save her, but sadly she died.
After the post-mortem examination, Kim and Paul
said they sought assurances from both the RVI and coroner's court that
none of their daughter's organs had been kept.
They claim that they were told only a blood sample
had been retained.
Two years later the Alder Hey scandal broke when it
was revealed that thousands of body parts from children had been taken
by the Liverpool hospital without parental consent.
It then emerged that a similar practice - though on
a smaller scale - had been discovered at hospitals run by the Newcastle
NHS Hospitals Trust . . . including the RVI.
Kim said: "I felt I had failed her by letting her
sleep and not bringing her downstairs so I could keep an eye on her. So
when we found out the hospital had kept her brain I felt I had failed
and betrayed her again . . . because she wasn't buried whole."
The couple, of Longbenton, North Tyneside,
contacted health bosses again and received the news they dreaded . . .
senior hospital staff admitted that Chelsea's brain had indeed been
removed.
"The day Chelsea died was the worst day of my
life," said Kim, who also has two sons, Aaran, 18 months, and Anthony,
14.
She said: "I feel that the whole medical profession
are arrogant.
"They always think they know best and that's not
always the case. When I went to see her brain at the hospital I was
horrified to find it was all sliced up - like a piece of meat on sale -
and it was in a plastic bag.
"I asked if they had found anything from their
research and was told they had not, so it was all for nothing.
"At no time did anyone from the coroner's office or
hospital tell us Chelsea's brain had been kept."
Kim also said that even the post-mortem report did
not indicate that any of Chelsea's organs had been retained.
She said: "All we got in the way of apology from
the RVI was in a letter confirming they had her brain.
"We had to dig up Chelsea's grave and put her brain
back with the rest of her remains. This was horrendous and I can't
forgive them for what they did.
"I am speaking out now to make sure it never
happens again."
An RVI spokeswoman said: "We cannot discuss an
individual patient's medical history.
"If Miss Stephenson is unhappy she should discuss
her concerns with us."
Newcastle coroner David Mitford said it was
standard practice for the brain to be removed for examination when
epilepsy was suspected as the cause of death.
However, before the Alder Hey scandal, parents were
not always told. Now, they are not only told, but also receive a
post-mortem report detailing what has been carried out.
Mr Mitford said: "Before Alder Hey there was less
awareness about the ways things should be done.
"We would inform the relatives of the cause of
death and whether they wanted to know if any tissue or organs were
retained."
Medic could stop these deaths, say experts
The deaths of six out of 10 child epilepsy
sufferers could be avoided, a report claims.
Failures by the medical profession in the treatment
of the condition have been blamed.
Many of the victims of Sudden Death in Epilepsy, or
Sudep, are children who go to sleep at night and never wake up.
Yet a report by Epilepsy Bereaved says there are
treatments available to health bosses which would stop at least 60 per
cent of these deaths happening.
About 23,000 people in the North have the condition
and it is estimated that 50 people die from epilepsy each year . . .
half of those from Sudep.
Expert professor David Fish said: "The report found
failures in the provision of care throughout the system.
"It concluded that poor epilepsy management had
resulted in a substantial number of potentially avoidable deaths."
The study was funded by the National Institute for
Clinical Excellence, or NICE.
It looked at 595 deaths nationally and found
inadequate levels of care in 77pc of child deaths and 54pc of adult
deaths.
The report said 59pc of child deaths and 39pc of
adult deaths could be avoided.
It also claimed that poor access to specialists, a
lack of appropriate investigations into the condition and inadequate
drug management were to blame.
The study criticised the lack of communication with
families, even though they might have older children who also had
epilepsy and could also be at risk from Sudep.
It was one such breakdown in communication which
contributed to baby Chelsea's death.
"Chelsea developed epilepsy after she had a
whooping cough vaccine at the age of four months," said mother Kim
Stephenson of Longbenton, North Tyneside.
"She had the jab in the morning and in the
afternoon she had her first fit.
"Her dad Paul had epilepsy when he was young and we
believe we should have been informed that whooping cough can cause the
condition. We later learned that in the past, if there was a family
connection to epilepsy, doctors would advise parents not to go ahead
with the vaccination.
"If we had been told this then we could have made a
personal choice whether to let Chelsea have the vaccination or not.
"As it was, they denied us this choice by not
informing us of the facts.
"The National Health Service also let us down by
not telling us when she was diagnosed that Chelsea could die from
epilepsy.
"I only found out because I saw it on a television
programme.
"When I asked hospital staff about Sudep, they told
me that Chelsea had a greater chance of being run over by a car than
dying from Sudep.
"Every parent who has a child with epilepsy should
be told all of the risks . . . including those from Sudep.
"It is an illness that no one chooses to have, but
sufferers should have the right to be able to go to sleep and wake up
the next day. |