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| Liver transplants halted at US hospital amid claims Saudi paid to jump queue |
| 2005-09-28 |
| 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 |
| #8 That was an *editorial* meeting???? ;-) Kudos to the decision makers at your hospital. It's hard to turn away the ready cash. Even harder to respect yourself in the morning. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-09-28 19:35 |
| #7 Emily: we did. We had a wing in the hospital renovated a couple decades back for visiting ME princelings and their darlings. We've had a couple Kuwaitis (including the one we discussed at a, um, Rantburg editorial meeting, yeah, that's it), but no more. They're way too much trouble even though the money is sweet. Your staff ends up really demoralized because of the behavior of the entourage. The wing now houses a clinical research group, and we no longer go after these patients. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2005-09-28 17:59 |
| #6 A patient at UCLA Medical Center was entitled to receive the organ [St. Vincent "saudi organ"], Valdespino said. link LA Times Recieved donor liver UCSF 2 years ago. Wasn't on any list except, immediate death list. [which sometimes a qualifies a patient after exhaustive review by transwplant team & program; blood type, tissue type etc.]. Wouldn't be here at the keyboard without it. Prayers, good insurance and luck. Most transplant patients [living donor or cadaver donor] I see, recover amazingly fast, eating and walking within a few days after transplant. The expierence is remarkable, drawn by an ultimate need, you met and bond with all sorts of folks from all walks of life. kidney side note, while getting dialysis one day [I no longer need it, free at last], I met transplant kidney patient [immigrant from India who worked at the service] who bought a kidney and instalation of that kidney, in India, for 10,000 US. + ticket. A cornucopia of moral and ethical issues..abounding. ;) |
| Posted by: Shomolet Hupoluth3454 2005-09-28 14:06 |
| #5 According to NPR yesterday, the Saudi patient went back home subsequent to the surgery; the misbehaviour was discovered during a regular internal hospital audit, and they reported themselves to the Transplant Network; nobody has any idea what happened to the patient who was supposed to get that organ; and all the patients on the hospital's waiting list have to start over now that the hospital is no longer doing transplants -- there is no mechanism for slipping them into another hospital's queue. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-09-28 14:00 |
| #4 ...and make the Saudi's pay for it. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-09-28 11:21 |
| #3 Why not just remove the errant organ and place it into the wait listed recipient? ;) |
| Posted by: DanNY 2005-09-28 11:20 |
| #2 I will also note: it is *very* difficult to say "no" to the Saudis, especially if there is Embassy pressure. Very very difficult. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-09-28 10:44 |
| #1 Cash payment above and beyond the usual reimbursement rates combined with the possibility of mutliple bonus perks and payments for good work can warp and pervert the weak quite easily. |
| Posted by: MunkarKat 2005-09-28 10:00 |