Organ retention helpline receives more than 60 calls a day

MORE than 60 calls a day were logged by a national helpline set up to deal with concerns about the organ retention controversy in its first week of operation.

A total of 318 requests were received up to last Friday from people seeking information about procedures for establishing whether their deceased loved ones’ organs had been removed without authorisation.

Most of the calls related to the recent revelations about the removal of pituitary glands and their subsequent sale or supply to pharmaceutical firms for use in the manufacture of human growth hormone.