CINCINNATI - The Hamilton County coroner says it sometimes is necessary to keep brains removed during autopsies in order to complete tests to determine cause of death.

Coroner Carl L. Parrott Jr. said Wednesday his office plans to implement a policy change Oct. 15 to inform relatives that they have the option of delaying the funeral to wait for the organs. He said that could be one to two weeks.

Parrott is listed as a defendant is lawsuit filed by two women who say relatives brains were kept after autopsies without families' permission.

Their lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, says the practice violates court rulings that families have rights to the body parts.

The lawsuit's plaintiffs are Kathy Hainey, of Ellettsville, Ind., and Debra A. Singler, of Cincinnati. Hainey's son and Singler's father died in 2000 and underwent autopsies by the Hamilton County coroner's office. The women did not learn the men's brains had been removed until after they were buried, the lawsuit says.

Parrott and other doctors who lead national and state coroners' associations have said that removing and keeping brains and other body parts is sound medical practice in investigating causes of death and terminal illnesses.

"The standard of care around the nation is to retain organs because you can't make meaningful conclusions with an instant analysis," Parrott said.

This is not the first time Parrott has been criticized for the practice.

In December 2001, Charles Pruitt urged the coroner to inform families about organ removal after his mother's brain was taken out during an autopsy without the family's knowledge.

Parrott said his office decided to change its policy after Pruitt's complaint. Organs, usually brains, need to be kept for further examination in 5 to 8 percent of autopsies, he said.

Coroners have a statutory obligation to try to determine a cause of death in autopsy cases, Parrott said, and some problems cannot be detected without extended study of an organ, such as subtle legions to a brain.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday asks for unspecified damages and requests class action status on behalf of other families whose relatives' body parts were removed by the coroner since 1991.