The mystery over an army cadet's death deepened Wednesday, with the hospital which removed his organs without the knowledge of his parents saying they would supply them for a second autopsy.
Army-owned Phramongkutklao Hospital forensic officials insisted they had acted legally in removing Pakapong "Moei" Tanyakan's organs as part of an autopsy procedure, despite failing to tell the dead man's family.
His parents, Pichet and Sukanya Tanyakan, suspect foul play in their son's death.
Staff at the hospital removed the organs during an autopsy and returned the body to the family for religious rites with the organs still missing.
The parents secretly took the body from a temple and delivered it to the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS), for a second autopsy, as they were suspicious about their son's cause of death.
The centre said Wednesday its autopsy on Pakapong, a cadet at the military preparatory school in Nakhon Nayok, would be completed by the end of next week.
According to the family, the death certificate indicates their son died of acute heart failure but provided no details. Their suspicions intensified after the CIFS team found some organs under the chest and abdomen and the brain had been removed.
CIFS director Samana Promros said the institute has contacted police who are expected to collect the removed organs from Phramongkutklao Hospital and deliver them to the CIFS today. He said the CIFS autopsy team should complete the examination and identify the cause of death within seven days.
In defence of the hospital, the director said the doctors removed the organs to examine them to further determine the cause of death. He said the controversy surrounding the removed organs is likely due to a communication problem between the hospital and the family.
