PITY II logo and contact information: PITY II, Stanley Community Centre, County Road, Walton, Liverpool, UK. Tel: +44 (0)151 285 0016. email: pity2uk@yahoo.co.uk

Link to Parents Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
WHY?



Some of the images associated with the organ retention issues at Alder Hey Hopsital in Liverpool, UK

 
Link to Alan Milburn's [Secretary of State for Health] Speech to the House of Commons [UK Government] on the 30th of January 2001

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animated presentation of the words "Never Again!"

Retained Organs Commission

The latest ROC guidance and information update for the NHS Trusts is now on their website. www.nhs.uk/retainedorgans//whatsnew.htm email Retained-Organs-Commission@doh.gsi.gov.uk

DNA Testing.

The ROC is looking at a project to develop an extraction technique for obtaining DNA from retained organs and tissue that have been preserved in formalin.

A firm called ' Cellmark' have, according to the ROC, already developed a method of extracting DNA from organs that have been stored in formalin, but at the moment it has only been done by trial and error in the laboratory.

The aim is to offer a test to families where the identification of retained organs and tissue is in doubt, that can be done outside of the laboratory and which will be reasonably reliable. The ROC is providing funding to develop the test.

Apparently testing would only be possible where a first-degree relative, such as a parent (preferably both parents) was available to provide a DNA sample to compare with the DNA from the organ or tissue. The test could not be carried out if insufficient or inadequate DNA is recovered from the retained organs or tissue.

The ROC state that not all organs or cases would be suitable for testing and it would not be open for all.

A draft protocol has been drawn up for consultation and the test when developed would have to await ethical approval. So it could be some months before it becomes available.

 

 

PITY II (Parents who have Interred Their Young Twice) is the parents' support group set up in the wake of the organ retention scandal
at Alder Hey Hospital (Liverpool, UK). It aims to provide self help support and advice to affected families.


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