Unethical removal of thymus organs during heart surgery

Creating generations of human lab rats

I am the mother of a beautiful, amazing boy suffering from severe immunodeficiency after having his thymus organ taken from him during heart surgery without my knowledge or consent. I believe people should be given accurate information about thymectomy during heart surgery and given the right to keep their organs.

Over 40 years ago cardiac surgeons began removing the thymus for better access to the heart during surgery however studies show this is unnecessary. Pre 1970s they did heart surgery without removing the thymus. Decades of medical studies show the immunological defects in  thymectomized  babies and children. Thymectomy leads to increased risk of cancers, autoimmune diseases, chronic viral and bacterial infections, inability to build immunity to infections, vaccines and indicates decreased life expectancy. One study showed 17 year olds who had completely thymectomy during heart surgery had the immune system of 70 year olds. Recent studies show these people are at high risk of severe covid.

These babies thymus organs have been given to AIDS patients, children born without an immune system and given to pharmaceutical companies to make drugs. Thymus organs are not discarded tissue.

Immunodeficiency following neonatal thymectomy in heart surgery http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3427824

1.) 1976, Immunological decay in thymectomized infants.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1245440

2.) 1979, The immunological effects of thymectomy in myasthenia gravis.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/314366

3.) 1975, T-Lymphocyte deficiency following adult thymectomy in man.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1079964

4.) 1987, Immunodeficiency following neonatal thymectomy in heart surgery http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3427824

5.) 2004 The influence of partial or total thymectomy during open heart surgery https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1809033/

6.) 2009 Premature immune aging in patients thymectomized during early childhood https://www.jci.org/articles/view/39269

7) 2013 Complete thymectomy in early infancy reduces T-cell–mediated immune response: SHORT 3 year follow up https://www.jtcvs.org/article/S0022-5223(12)01540-1/fulltext

8) 2021, Early Thymectomy Is Associated With Long-Term Impairment of the Immune System https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.774780/full

9) 1996, Stealing thymuses and giving them to AIDS patients Published April 24, 1996 | Updated January 20, 2016 https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/rebuilding-immune-system-through-thymus-transplants

*** this link above is now dead.*** I have their updated article screenshots and posted here:

10) stealing from one baby to give to another- Tissue removed during heart surgery is saving lives of children with no immune system https://www.gosh.nhs.uk/press-releases/tissue-removed-during-heart-surgery-saving-lives-children-no-immune-system/

11) Living children's glands given to drug firms https://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/jan/26/alderhey.uknews

Animal studies were done from the pre-1960's, showing the detrimental effect of thymectomy. It was considered unethical to remove the thymus in children. Previous studies and literature indicate that the thymus is of great importance througout your life yet the medical community decided to proceed with thymectomy, calling it "necessary to reach the heart". Pray tell, what other organ do we cut out of patients during surgery and not place back, using "better access" as an excuse? They studied these infants' immune systems after thymectomy. How did they know to study their immune system, since most of their studies are prefaced with the claim that the thymus is thought to be unnecessary. Why study something if it is safe...and why remove it if you do not truly know if it is safe? Is that not the very definition of "human experimentation?" 

Decades pass and they continue to remove thymuses and study the growing children. They find more deleterious effects of thymectomy and yet each article prefaced with " the thymus was thought to be unnecessary," as if to excuse themselves of culpability. Can one continue to pretend ignorance for decades? 

My son is one of these tragic experiments. His undetected chronic heart condition led to severe malnutrition in his first 3 months of life. Malnutrition is known to lead to thymus involution. He went into heart failure, received VSD repair surgery and complete thymectomy which eventually led to severe immunodeficiency. In the beginning years he had the ability to build immunity to viruses and vaccines then he lost that ability. His immunologist said CMV infection, a common illness in children that kills T-cells, caused his T-cell deficiency and this may lead to severe immunodeficiency in thymectomized children. The medical literature backs this up. Since then, he has a history of chronic viral pneumonia and now lives away from most people to protect him from infections. A recent medical article says that patients who had their thymus removed during heart surgery are now at greater risk of severe covid. All of these patients now range from 0-50 years old. They continue to study the effects of thymectomy, as they continue to remove newborns and children’s thymuses without parents' knowledge or consent. It needs to end. I have tried for close to 2 decades to raise awareness. I am but one person. Someone needs to please step up and help advocate for them. *Please*

-1979 The Thymus: Clock for Immunologic Aging https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15455381/pdf?md5=f52cefd17d7c5f7abd78b1dcbdcaa847&pid=1-s2.0-S0022202X15455381-main.pdf

I.R. Mackay Ageing and immunological function in man Gerontologia, 18 (1972), pp. 285-304
-1974, R.A. Good, E.J. Yunis Association of autoimmunity, immunodeficiency and aging in man, rabbits and mice Fed Proc, 33 (1974), pp. 2040-2050 View Record in ScopusGoogle Scholar
-1971, H.H. Fudenberg Genetically determined immune deficiency as the predisposing cause of “autoimmunity” and lymphoid neoplasia Am J Med, 51, pp. 295-298 ArticleDownload PDFView Record in ScopusGoogle Scholar

The history of the thymus gland dates back more than 2,000 years https://med.amegroups.com/article/view/4336/5343