Organ families hit Martin with writs
Parents for Justice warned the minister he faces an avalanche of litigation after writs were issued by 50 families whose deceased children’s organs were retained by hospitals without their consent or knowledge.
The group, representing more than 2,000 families, said several hundred more cases will follow within weeks.
The cases are being taken against a number of major hospitals and health boards, specific doctors and consultants as well as the Minister for Health and the Attorney General.
Last night the Department of Health said the papers were being assessed by legal advisers and defended the minister’s position in his handling of the affair.
Parents for Justice (PfJ) withdrew from the Dunne Inquiry into Organ Retention recently, claiming in was ineffective as it was not on a statutory footing.
Towards the end of last year, 15 families handed over files to the gardaí for criminal investigation.
Already, more than 60 families are seeking damages for removing organs from deceased relatives without their families’ knowledge or consent.
The ground for damages being sought include:
Violation of rights
Personal injury
Loss
Distress
Inconvenience
Breach of contract
Last night, PfJ spokesperson Fionnuala O’Reilly said it was
regrettable that this course of action has to be taken but that the group was left with no alternative.
“The Dunne Inquiry has been in existence now for almost two years and not one family has received an answer to the questions we have posed about post-mortem practice,” she said.
“We cannot understand why the minister wants to keep a lid on this.
“Maybe we will discover his reasons in the course of the avalanche of litigation that is about to descend on the minister.”
But the minister’s spokesperson insisted last night that the Dunne Inquiry must be allowed to finish its work and that Minister Martin sees no benefit in abandoning it at this stage.
Tribunal chairperson Anne Dunne has given a commitment she will be back with a report on paediatric hospitals by the end of the year.
The minister said he will then decide on the next appropriate step to be taken, the spokesperson added.
Parents for Justice is encouraging other parents to turn their cases over to the gardaí and they are also being asked to withdraw their consent for the use by the inquiry of any information they had provided to it.
