A Matter of Life and Death Britons
reacted with horror in 2001 when a government report revealed
the full extent of the scandal at Alder Hey hospital in
Liverpool The organs ___1___
hundreds of dead children, supposedly taken for medical
research, ___2___
found forgotten in the hospital basement. Many had been ___3___
without the knowledge of the children's parents, ___4___
them feeling betrayed. The government reacted by ___5___
the process doctors must follow to ___6___
post-mortems. However, the incident at Alder Hey has ___7___
a new crisis. Medical staff are approaching fewer and fewer ___8___
relatives to perform autopsies and relatives are ___9___
to agree. If we don't get enough post-mortems, ___10___
example, we would not have identified variant CJD and
Legionaire's disease as quickly as it ___11___
done. The British government must ___12___
an education campaign to tell people
___13___ post-mortems are so
important. Senior ( not junior ) doctors or, perhaps, specially
trained counsellors could ___14___
the message in local hospitals. If the case is put convincingly,
the public will respond. A post-mortem on one child could end up
saving the life of another. many parents ___15___
children died in Alder Hey now appreciate this reasoning. It's
just that no one explained it at that time. |