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Liver transplants halted at US hospital amid claims Saudi paid to jump queue
Who's he think he is, Mickey Mantle?LOS ANGELES (AFP) - A top US organ transplant hospital said it had suspended its liver program amid claims doctors helped a Saudi jump the queue and take an organ intended for a higher priority patient. St. Vincent's Medical Center in Los Angeles said its liver transplantation program had been put on "temporary inactive status" and that its two directors had been sacked in connection with a September 2003 operation in which doctors apparently falsified documents to cover up the improper action. Sounds like an episode of "Nip/Tuck". "This event appears to involve an individual who received a liver that was designated for transplantation to another patient," the hospital's chief executive, Gus Valdespino, said in a statement."Any breach of integrity regarding established transplantation procedures in unacceptable. We are conducting a thorough investigation of this case to find out why and how this happened and to make sure it never happens again." The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the patient was a Saudi man who jumped from 52nd place on the transplantation waiting list to first place ahead of the surgery that was paid for by the Saudi Embassy in Washington."The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia paid the 339,000 dollar cost for the transplant and hospital stay, which is 25 to 30 percent higher than what the hospital would typically be paid for the procedure by insurance companies and government programs," the paper quoted Valdespino as saying. Inshallah, I will have my new liver. That and 300 grand from the embassy. Neither Valdespino nor the hospital were immediately available Tuesday to confirm that the patient who jumped the queue was a Saudi or that the Saudi embassy stumped up for the surgery. My bet? Ummmmmmmmmmmm...yes. Like they'd set up an infidel with this deal? The irregularity was discovered only this month when officials responded to routine questions from auditors at the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit group that administers the US transplant system, Valdespino said. Damn Jooooooo auditors, I'll bet. Posted by: Vladdy 2005-09-28 |
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