MPS demand transplants’ tragedy probe
Politicians are demanding an inquiry into the double transplant tragedy revealed by The Sunday Post. SNP MP Dr Lisa Cameron is to raise the issue at Westminster’s Health and Safety Committee next week.
The campaigning MP said our reports revealing two patients had been given a lethal form of cancer after receiving organs from the same donor demanded investigation. Tom Tyreman, from the north east of England, died last year after receiving a new liver while Pauline Hunt, from Ayrshire, has been told she has the same aggressive cancer.
We also revealed another patient, Malcolm Duffy, died after receiving infected lungs from another donor. Dr Cameron said: “These cases are deeply upsetting not only for those families involved, but also for the thousands who are waiting on transplant lists across the country. “We have to ensure we learn from these cases. “The health committee needs to conduct an inquiry to examine whether the way organs and donors are screened is as robust as it possibly can be.”
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has stepped into the controversy, saying he will urge Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to act quickly over the growing scandal.
He said: “Families who have lost loved ones will rightly expect answers and we need reassurances this won’t happen again.
“I urge the Secretary of State to rapidly establish a full investigation so all the facts are known.”
Pauline Hunt said: “We’re determined that what happened to us should never happen again to other families, and believe the only way to ensure that is to have an inquiry.”
John Forsythe, the medical director for Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said all processes were followed correctly and every possible test was done in the time available.