Obtaining consent for autopsy
- 4 October 2003
- Vol. 327 (7418) , 804-806
- https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7418.804
Abstract
Public disquiet changes practice The Bristol Royal Infirmary inquiry into deaths of babies having heart surgery caused widespread public concern about the quality of information delivered to families about postmortem examinations.2 There was particular disquiet that parents had not been specifically informed that this procedure would entail the retention of whole organs for detailed laboratory examination. Similar revelations at other hospitals and in other countries, including Ireland and Australia, prompted a series of public and private inquiries and have resulted in radical changes to the procedures used for conveying information and obtaining consent for postmortem examinations (box 1).1 3 4 Bereaved parents need a full understanding of postmortem proceedings Credit: AMY ECKERT/PHOTONICAKeywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Necropsy practice after the "organ retention scandal": requests, performance, and tissue retentionJournal of Clinical Pathology, 2003
- Parents’ Consent to the Post‐mortem Removal and Retention of OrgansJournal of Applied Philosophy, 2001
- Next of kin clinicsJournal of Clinical Pathology, 2000