Saudi Jumps the line for Liver Transplant

[julialnyc]

"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... read on"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/27.html#a5122

[Greyhound]

1. Recommended, hope it is read. Not holding my breath however. n/t

[Benhurst]

2. Recommended NT

[julialnyc]

3. quote

"The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia paid the $339,000 cost for the transplant and hospital stay, which is 25% to 30% higher than what the hospital would typically be paid for the procedure by insurance companies and government programs, Valdespino said. A lawyer for Ramos, who was paid separately for his services, said he believed that the patient was an impoverished Bedouin and that the doctor didn't know if he would be compensated."

[Greyhound]

4. yet, strangely neither doktor is still in the hospitals employ. Hmm,

wonder who is signing their checks now?

[mac56]

9. "Impoverished Bedouin.."

"...doctor didn't know if he'd be compensated..."

Oh yeah, he did this kind of freebie surgery all the time?!

Lying sack o'shit.

[Virginian]

10. Hold on there -- what about the expensive immunosuppression drugs?

How was this penniless patient going to maintain his gift of life without expensive immunosuppression therapy?

Another thing they sneak by the system is the "related kidney donor."
You really only need one kidney and can give one away to someone who needs it. However, it is illegal to sell an organ -- you can NOT sell your kidney to someone who needs it. Some Saudis have been known to find a poor person who is a good 6 antigen match and pay him to come to the US to pretend he is a cousin who is donating his organ when he is really selling it. They bend our rules and we have no way of proving it.

UNOS (The United Network for Organ Sharing) is supposed to enforce the hospitals' compliance, but all they have the authority to do is to write a nasty letter.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Greyhound]

6. I'd be happy with just freezing and seizing their assets.

They're free to leave, but the loot stays here. :woohoo:

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

7. kick

:kick:

[knitter4democracy]

8. That's horrible!

It goes against all medical ethics, and those doctors need to be brought up before their review boards. The transplant system barely works, but it works as much as it does because everyone follows the rules. Breaking the rules like this hurts everyone.

[Virginian]

11. Those doctors should never ever be allowed to touch another patient.

If they can't follow these rules, what other rules are they breaking. Would they let a poor patient die for lack of money? I don't want to ever find out. The hospital did the right thing if they fired them. The AMA had better have pulled their licenses, too. Falsifying records should be reason enough.

The process tries to be equitable, but can't be fair. If it were fair, everyone who ever needed a transplant would get one. Many people don't because there just aren't enough organs to go around.

Please indicate on your drivers license that you want to be an organ donor so that more people can receive this life saving procedure. Talk with your families and let them know that if something were to happen to you that you would want to be a donor.

Think of it as a host body keeping your heart and other organs alive for you.

You can find more information at www.UNOS.org .

[Virginian]

12. kick

Kick to get the message out.