Posted on 07/05/2007 11:34:16 AM PDT by Bronco_Buster_FweetHyagh
The mother of a San Luis Obispo man who died after an attempted organ donation at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center last year claims she never gave hospital officials consent to take her son off life-support and was misinformed when agreeing to the organ harvest, according to a wrongful death lawsuit.
Rosa Navarro also alleges in her June 29 civil lawsuit that a transplant surgeon misrepresented himself as her son’s doctor, an allegation the surgeon’s attorney strongly denies. She also said she agreed to the organ donation only because she believed her son had no chance of survival.
Defendants in the lawsuit — the San Luis Obispo hospital; its parent company, Dallas-based Tenet Corp.; the California Transplant Donor Network; transplant physicians Hootan Roozrokh and Arturo Martinez; and their employer, The Permanente Medical Group Inc.—are accused of assault, battery, fraud, civil conspiracy, negligence, medical malpractice and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Sierra Vista hospital on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing in the Feb. 4, 2006, death of 25-year-old Ruben Navarro.
Rosa Navarro, 54, is asking for unlimited compensation in the death of her son.
Ruben Navarro, who was dying of a rare metabolic disorder, had been on life support for four days and was expected to die. His mother agreed to donate his organs, and the California Transplant Donor Network dispatched its transplant team to Sierra Vista.
Rosa Navarro said during an interview from her Oxnard home Tuesday that when she arrived at the hospital she asked about her son’s condition. She said a hospital nurse told her to speak with the doctor.
“He came over and approached me and said I’m in charge of Ruben,” Navarro said of Roozrokh, who was part of the surgical team from San Francisco dispatched by Oakland-based Organ Transplant Donor Network.
“I asked him, ‘Doctor could you do anything for my boy?’ and he said, ‘Oh, no. Oh no… There’s nothing I can do for a patient like him.’ ”
Navarro said through sobs that Roozrokh asked her if she planned to watch him disconnect her son from life-support.
“He didn’t even ask me, ‘What do you want me to do Ms. Navarro? Do you want me to keep him on the machine or whatever?’ ” Navarro said.
Roozrokh’s attorney, M. Gerry Schwartzbach, told The Tribune on Tuesday that his client never spoke with Rosa Navarro and was not in charge of her son’s medical care.
“He did not have any conversation with her with regard to taking Ruben off the respirator. … Dr. Roozrokh was in the Bay Area,” Schwartzbach said. “I feel very bad for Ms. Navarro because she’s going through a great deal, but unfortunately someone misled her because she never met (Roozrokh) and she never spoke to him. That is absolutely clear.”
Schwartzbach said a local physician made the decision to remove Ruben Navarro from life support.
Ruben Navarro was brought into the operating room at 11 p.m. Feb. 3, 2006, and his breathing tube was removed. But he did not die within 30 minutes—the window during which organs could be harvested. He died nine hours later, according to the lawsuit.
An operating-room nurse reported that standard medical procedures weren’t followed when Navarro was taken off life support.
The lawsuit alleges Roozrokh ordered Ruben Navarro be given lethal doses of morphine and Ativan, an accusation also reported as a finding in a federal investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The report showed an intensive care nurse gave Ruben Navarro 220 milligrams of morphine and 80 milligrams of Ativan.
Sierra Vista spokesman Ron Yukelson did not respond to specific allegations against the hospital.
He did say a surgeon contracted with the donor network assumed responsibility for Navarro in violation of hospital policy, which requires a doctor to be credentialed by the hospital to treat a living patient.
District attorney’s investigators have been reviewing the case since March, but have made no decision about filing criminal charges.
“It’s a very unique case. No one’s prosecuted a case like this anywhere,” Assistant District Attorney Dan Hilford said Tuesday. “The case is very complex and deals with issues that require a great deal of research and study.”
State Medical Board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said the agency is investigating Roozrokh.
Martinez, the other doctor on the transplant team, could not be reached for comment.
That is wrong and not how the program is designed to work. I’m sorry you went through this. Unbelievable that they didn’t show you the CT when you asked.
Great Post!
But be prepared for the culture of death to tell you that you don’t know what you are talkgin about, even though you clearly do.
But I think it's pretty clear from the links I posted that that isn't true everywhere.
Btw, in my haste to finish my post (had to leave the computer suddenly last night) I mistakenly typed in brackets that Washington, DC already legally permits organ harvesting without consent.
What I meant to type was that Washington DC legally permits prepping a patient for organ harvesting without consent.
IOW, doctors in DC may without consent perform surgical procedures upon a patient, who is deemed a potential donor, that are not intended to help the patient. They may also administer drugs to him that are NOT helpful to saving his life, but are instead aimed at "preserving" his organs for transplant. These are the initial steps in organ harvesting.
Some medical ethicists are strongly opposed to this practice, because
(a) these drugs and surgical procedures can hasten the patient's death and
(b) the practice puts more pressure on the patient's family to donate.
See here for an interesting debate, hosted by Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America, on this practice in Washington DC.
I was so pissed about what this guy/gal said that I wasn’t thinking. I apologize for what I said. It has NO reflection on my character, despite what you think. FReepers know me well enough to know my character. SO many people I see in dialysis every other day would love to get off that machine for a few years, if nothing else. Donor kidneys are hardly available because people just don’t want to be bothered. Cadaver kidneys are our only hope most of the time. I’ve never heard of anyone’s kidneys being harvested from a living person. I think it’s a gross exaggeration. I’m in dialysis three days a week. It runs my life, but in spite of it I do well. I see so many die because nobody will give them a kidney. Try it sometime. See who’s judging who here.
It’s not only for me, but for the thousands of people who are waiting and many will be dying because of the need for a transplant. Wait til it happens to you or one of yours. Maybe YOU won’t be standing in judgement of me or of others in our position.
I apologize for my angry outburst. I was really ticked off when I read it and having had a bad week sphysically, I lost my cool. Please forgive me for that.
I think these articles are gross exaggerations of the truth. I trust my transplant center folks and I can’t see any of them doing this. I’m not saying it can’t happen, but I doubt that it does.
Thank you. I will. May God abundantly bless you and the little one who received your daughter’s heart.
Your apology is a pleasure to see. May I suggest you open your mind to the possibility that those who disagree with you may have a reason for their opinions? Read the comments on this thread - I am not the only poster with reason to suspect that some donors have been killed to get the organs needed by others.
See 243, for example.
thanks for your concern,
i am on the donor list for bone marrow, wouldn’t hesitate to donate a kidney, or part of my liver if needed,
but the trauma of having been told that after you “donated” life-saving organs, when your loved one wasn’t an organ donor, and then to find out that the donor agency signed out your loved one, fraudulently out of the hospital for a ride to their place to be scavenged for non-approved, “life enhancing” tissues/bone/fascia, etc. was horrific, just horrific
i told my children of my wishes that i would be okay with “life saving” organs (five of them), after i go, as long as the federally designated agency for my state was NOT involved in any way.
Some of the postings on here regarding organ transplantation, are being made by people who are not educated about this topic.
I believe that all public discourse is a good thing, but only when the facts are being presented.
No, EMS personel DO NOT load up victims who are organ donors last. This is the most ridiculous statement on the topic so far. Pt’s are treated based upon the seriousness of their injuries. Do you think the 911 Rescue Workers (yes, they are capitaliized for a reason!) were searching through peoples purses and wallets looking for their donor status?! That statement is a slap in the face to these men and women.
It is the same in the ER, nurses and Dr’s work hard, damn hard to save the lives of the critically injured. A lot of times, we don’t even know the persons name, let alone their donor status.
If what this article is alleging is true, an awful atrocity occurred. This is not how Organ Procurement Agencies operate.
For more information, please visit www.UNOS.org
Organ Donation is a wonderful gift that a grieving family can give to someone in need.
thank you...I pray for your good health.
I appreciate that. I really feel good, unless I’ve got something else like stomach problems (from time to time), but I’m able to do the things I need to and go places, etc. Even singing in church again. God is good! Thank you.
THAT is scary. I don’t blame people for worrying. Washington seems to think it can get away with murder... I don’t think it’s the case in most places but...
Exactly. Unfortunately, that is the trend.
Yes, it’s obvious there is a BIG push for organs. The “business” is very profitable for the government, hospitals and OPOs (organ procurement organizations). The United States Health & Human Services Transplantation Division is giving out grant money to hospitals, OPO’s and now EMS! Trauma patients DON’T get emergent treatment (surgery) anymore - There were changes made to United States Federal Code for trauma and EMS in 2004. OPO’s know when a patient is on their way “in” to ER - some trauma hospital’s have OPO people that are stationed right at the hospital! The HHS/OPO/Hospital/EMS all work together from the very beginning and the patient and family NEVER know what is going on - they are left in THE DARK - while the rest gang-up against the patient in what they call their HUDDLE! Now the United States Government and states are working on PRESUMED CONSENT - everyones “in” unless they opt out - but the opt out part will NEVER work. What can the American People do? Research, gain knowledge and put good, honest, caring people in governmental office. We, the PEOPLE can turn our country around for the better. BUT, what about H R 811? Hidden agenda there too? I want a paper ballot that can be recounted (proof) and OPEN GOVERNMENT - THE FREEDOM TO INFORMATION ESPECIALLY WITH OUR VOTING. Does H R 811 have a hidden agenda to prevent this? We, the PEOPLE have to fight for our rights to LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.
The doctor’s web bio lists:
“When I am away from work, my hobbies include racing cars and playing golf. I THRIVE by endeavoring to practice good karma.”
I didn’t realize the Buddha was into organ harvesting. Kind of gets right into the wheel house of the Noble Truths.
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