One of my patients aborted into the speci-pan and we got an intern from Labor and delivery to cut the cord to the afterbirth before we would let her up from the toilet...I can understand that a small hospital might inadvertently flush, but the afterbirth is still inside the mother. The cord must be cut unless the gestation is just a few weeks...
Another woman I admitted was told by her doctor to keep all "tissue" she dropped. When I admitted her she handed me a small jar with a lid and a baby about 5 inches long in the bottle....the poor woman was a basket case until she was able to give me the jar she had in her purse...
It is very tramatic for most women, emotionally and physically...Early gestation usually does not have a well developed afterbirth.
momfirst, I have no direct knowledge of the "right" way to proceed but at a minimum, your friends should demand a hospital policy change similar to what goat granny just described here.
Have your friend write a simple, concise dispassionate letter to the hospital administrator outlining the event. State in the letter that they have no intent to sue or seek publicity, but that the hospital must change its practice in this regard, and that they must see the new policy in writing. Request a meeting in person so the administrator can show them in writing how it is being handled. Set a deadline in the letter for when they expect a written response and a meeting in person, and simply state they will find it necessary to contact a lawyer, the press, and the state hospital licensing board and JCAHO if they hear nothing in response by the deadline.
Send it registered mail with a return receipt, and follow up with a phone call in 3-4 business days to the administrators office.