Drugs company paid hospitals for body parts

THE drugs company that made medication from brain tissue taken from dead infants without their parents’ knowledge confirmed last night it had paid hospitals for supplying the body parts.

Pharmacia Ireland said its predecessor, Kabi Vitrum Ltd, had provided reimbursement to pathologists and hospitals for the work involved in removing the pituitary glands needed for making a growth hormone, but did not say how much money was paid.

In a statement confirming that the arrangement was in place between 1977 and 1985, the company said: “the sum was intended solely to defray any additional costs required to remove and store the pituitary glands”.