A Bali hospital denied allegations it was involved in organ theft, a director said, after the body of a young Australian who died on the Indonesian resort island was repatriated without his heart.
Queensland man Byron Haddow was found dead in the plunge pool of his Bali villa earlier this year while on holiday.
The body of the 23-year-old was returned to Australia four weeks later, and a second autopsy found his heart was missing, prompting Australian officials to demand answers from its Indonesian counterpart.
I Made Darmajaya, director of medical nursing and support at Prof Ngoerah Hospital, denied that the hospital was involved in organ theft, explaining that it carried out a forensic autopsy on Haddow’s body following a request from local police.
“The circulating rumours of organ theft are false,” Made said on Wednesday.
“There is no interest of the hospital to withhold (the heart). Our interest was in the context of examination in accordance with the law.”
He said Haddow’s heart was repatriated to Australia later than the rest of his body as it took a long time to process it to meet the requirements for a pathological examination.
Haddow’s heart was returned to Queensland in August, more than two months after his death, a legal representative of Haddow’s family said, adding that the incident raised “serious questions” about medical practices in Bali. — AFP
