IRELAND
Irish Independent
Eilish O’Regan
Health Correspondent
THE remains of 474 infants – who died in mother-and-baby homes and hospitals – were used for research and doctors’ training in Irish universities for a quarter of a century, the Irish Independent has learned.
New figures reveal the full extent of the practice of doctors using “unclaimed bodies” for anatomical study up until the mid-1960s with no evidence of consent being obtained.
There were 474 unclaimed infant remains transferred to the medical schools at four universities from 1940-1965 for the “study of the anatomy and the structure of the human body”.
The latest revelations come in the wake of renewed controversy over standards of care in the mother-and-baby homes across the country following the discovery of mass infant deaths at St Mary’s in Tuam, Co Galway.
The baby remains were transferred to UCD, Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons Dublin, and NUI Galway until a campaign by the college professors got under way to encourage voluntary donation.
The infant remains transferred to the medical school in NUI Galway came from two Galway hospitals as opposed to directly from mother-and-baby homes, according to records. It is unclear what the circumstances of the deceased babies’ parents were. The Central Hospital in Galway had a TB ward and was replaced by the Regional Hospital Galway in the early 1950s.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.