Health Minister Nelson Bascome said yesterday it was "unfathomable" to think that Norman Palmer's body parts were illegally harvested in Bermuda.

But he admitted that the case of the 57-year-old — many of whose organs and tissues went missing after he died at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last April — highlighted the need for improved record-keeping at KEMH.

Ministry of Health permanent secretary Warren Jones, meanwhile, said Bermuda had never had a case like Mr. Palmer's before and it could lead the Island to investigate how other countries regulate the retention of body parts.

Mr. Palmer's family has alleged that his body parts — including a kidney, two-thirds of his brain, his spleen and stomach — were stolen after a post-mortem was conducted at the hospital.

They were found to be missing by a British pathologist after the body was flown to the UK for cremation.

A Police investigation here found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Mr. Bascome told The Royal Gazette: "This whole situation of body parts, for me, it's a little unfathomable.

"Normally when one is dealing with body parts for a live situation, meaning the organ is going to be transplanted or the like, there is a process or procedure that has to be in place so that the organs are kept alive until they are functioning.

"When I heard about stolen body parts I thought 'why would someone steal the body parts of someone who is dead'. It doesn't work that way. You have to have a donor or someone willing to receive the organ."

An inquest held last month into the death of Mr. Palmer, of Leafy Way, Paget, heard that pathologists performing autopsies ordered by the Coroner do not need the permission of relatives to retain body parts.

In Mr. Palmer's case, chief pathologist Kered James informed the Coroner's officer verbally that she was keeping the larynx and thyroid for further tests but did not make a note of it.

Emergency room doctors gave evidence about how they tried in vain to save Mr. Palmer's life after he was rushed into the resuscitation room with breathing difficulties on April 12.

Questions were raised by the family's lawyer about the completeness of the medical notes made at the hospital, including whether, when Mr. Palmer visited ER the week before his death, the life-threatening nature of his throat complaint was properly logged on a form for his GP.

Mr. Bascome said of the media coverage of the inquest: "I watched it, read it. I saw quite a number of peculiar situations.

"I think what really piqued my interest was that the reporting systems and the progress reports and the like just wasn't as regimented as it could have been, as it should have been.

"That's the only thing I'd have real concern about, since which BHB (Bermuda Hospitals Board) have improved the standard of record-keeping.

"Sometimes it takes a case like this here (for that) to happen."

He added: "I do believe that everything should be logged. I believe that was part of the challenge of this case.

"One didn't log the information and put down everything that they were doing.

"I would hope that this would have brought better procedures on how they log and retain data. This case has shown we have to dot the i's and cross the t's."

The Minister said he had not yet formed a view on whether Bermuda needed stricter laws regarding organ retention and disposal, such as the UK's Human Tissue Act 2004.

Health permanent secretary Mr. Jones said: "We have not looked at what prevails in other jurisdictions and the rationale behind policies that exist there. That might be where we want to start.

"This case — we have never had one like it before. There are some strange things around it, some different things around it.

"I'm not sure, it may or may not represent a precedent that we need to change or look at in more detail."

Mr. Jones said the inquest verdict of Coroner Khamisi Tokunbo — due to be given on February 26 — was likely to be a good guide to issues Bermuda might need to look at.

Mr. Bascome acknowledged that the grief of Mr. Palmer's family was compounded by not knowing what happened to his body parts but said he did not think he would feel the same if it was one of his loved ones.

"For me, maybe it's my religion, but once you have passed you have passed. I think the Coroner has his right to do what he has to do.

"When I see someone's body being interred, I look at the physical state or the being of that individual and I see they are being laid to rest.

"I don't know what's in them. It's a personal feeling; it's not one of policy."