John Tonge Centre
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The John Tonge Centre (commonly referred to as the JTC) is the mortuary for Queensland Health Scientific Services (QHSS) and responsible for conducting autopsies in Brisbane (and much of South-East Queensland in Australia) on people whose deaths make them subject to the Coroner's Act. Such deaths include accidents, suicides, homicides, deaths during surgery and anything for which a doctor is unwilling to issue a medical cause of death certificate for. The John Tonge Centre performs some 1200 autopsies annually.
[edit] Controversy
In recent years the John Tonge Centre has been the centre of much controversy and they have been the subject of a ministerial taskforce since April 2005. While some of the criticism is unfair or petty in nature there are several recurring issues, including:
- the massive delays in the processing of DNA information needed by police and prosecutors, caused in part by a sudden increase in demand for this testing;
- the destruction of vessels, especially the common carotid, unnecessarily during autopsy that prevents the body from being successfully embalmed for a viewing before or during their funeral service;
- a staff member, still employed there, who is alleged to have regularly stolen pituitary glands from deceased during autopsy and injected them into racehorses (article Brisbane Courier Mail 5th October 2005).
