Hospital Halts Organ Program [Saudi got improper priority; action covered up]

latimes.com ^ | September 27, 2005 | Charles Ornstein

[Jubal Harshaw]

St. Vincent Medical Center, one of the largest organ transplantation centers in the state, has suspended its liver program after discovering that its doctors improperly arranged for a transplant to a Saudi national using an organ that should have gone to a much higher priority patient at another hospital, officials said.

Hospital staff members then falsified documents several times to cover up the alleged maneuver, pretending that the transplant was for a patient who was near the top of the regional waiting list, hospital President and Chief Executive Gus Valdespino confirmed Monday.

[Jubal Harshaw]

This touches on upon at least two interesting (to me) topics. The first is fraud in California medicine (see http://www.tryingforsense.blogspot.com/ for my own thoughts about some of the problems in CA). The other is how Saudi money can corrupt our institutions, starting with (not surprisingly) those institutions that are already weak.

[oldironsides]

Money talks and BS walks. Saudi's bought much of DC, why not a liver?

[To Hell With Poverty]

Maybe someone should tell him it was a Jewish liver so they can get it back for the person it was meant for...

[SengirV]

or a pig liver

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Transplant directors and ethicists from across the country say what is alleged to have happened at St. Vincent is a sin in organ transplantation, which is heavily regulated by a procurement network, as well as state and federal officials, to maintain integrity and fairness in the process.

Apparently not regulated enough. We're back to the Golden rule: Those who have the gold, make the rules...

[aimhigh]

Apparently not regulated enough

Doctors regulated by doctors. The system never works.

[heleny]

money can corrupt our institutions, starting with (not surprisingly) those institutions that are already weak.

I thought that was how the organ transplants always worked, despite the rules about who gets priority. At least, the amount of monetary donations is how some liver transplants are arranged at UCLA, so I would imagine less prestigious hospitals would have similar policies. Of course, I'm sure they follow the regular procedures for many liver and other organ transplants, it's just that there always are special accommodations for people with the means to support the transplant centers financially (and therefore cut in line).

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Agreed. This is why I removed myself from being an organ donor. If I died, my parts would go to the person who was doing the best grease job on the doctor in charge of transplants. What was reported in this story is only the most tiny, pinprick tip of the iceberg. I believe the movie: COMA was art mimicking life. And while I am still a blood donor, I have strongly considered withdrawing from the program because of the politics that have invaded the Red Cross...

[af_vet_rr]

more like doctors or hospitals regulated by money.

This is probably nothing - When I lived in Virginia, we had a neighbor that worked at Walter Reed, who mentioned that quite a few higher-ups in foreign nations were treated there. I can only imagine what it must be like in the private sector where it could be easier to hide.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This parasite wanted a new liver, and the so-called doctors sold their souls for a few pieces of silver to get him one.