Hospital snatched dying teen's organs without consent: Mother

The mother of 18-year-old Sophie Kroone is accusing the Medical Center Alkmaar of removing her daughter's organs without permission in 2011. She and lawyer Annet Wood pressed charges with the Hoorn police and the Medical disciplinary board, Gooi- and Eemlander reports.

Sophie Kroone crashed with her scooter into a truck on February 26th, 2011. Emergency services tried to resuscitate her for 40 minutes on the street before rushing her to Medical Center Alkmaar - now the Noordwest Hospital Group. At the hospital her family was told that Sophie sustained severe brain damage and things were not looking well.

Sophie's mother Tinne told the newspaper that the hospital insisted that her organs be donated, but her family only gave permission for her kidneys to be donated.

Tinne Kroone was left with a "bad feeling" about the entire situation and eventually decided to ask for Sophie's medical records. She got information from the Alkmaar hospital as well as from the Dutch Transplant Foundation. To her horror she discovered that the hospital did not only take her daughter's kidneys, but also her spleen and "arterial and venous veins".

"Pure robbery", Wood said to the newspaper, speaking on behalf of the family. "The remains of a human being is not a damn lucky dip."

In response the Noordwest Hospital Group told the newspaper that the Alkmaar hospital was not responsible for the surgery in which Sophie's organs were removed. That type of surgery is only done by specialists.