Now This Is Interesting
From today's LA Times:
"A man whose family agreed to donate his organs for transplant upon his death was wrongly declared brain-dead by two doctors at a Fresno hospital, records and interviews show.
Only after the man's 26-year-old daughter and a nurse became suspicious was a third doctor, a neurosurgeon, brought in. He determined that John Foster, 47, was not brain-dead, a condition that would have cleared the way for his organs to be removed, records of the Feb. 21 incident show."
Mr. Foster, an automobile mechanic, had collapsed three days before the incident and was diagnosed with a catastrophic brain hemmorage. Within hours the hospital notified the California transplant network that they had a, ahem, "live" one. His daughter, Melanie Sanchez, agreed to donate her father's organs.
Then the donor network staff got into the act. Ms.Sanchez says "she got calls "at least twice a day" from the organ group, saying: "We have to get the body parts in a certain time. Your dad can be a life-saver to someone else. How is he doing today? Did he go up or down?"
"It kind of blew my mind," she said, "like they were waiting like vultures, waiting for someone to die so they could scoop them up."
California law requires that two physicians declare a patient brain-dead before the patient's organs can be harvested. On February 21 two doctors did so, but according to Ms. Sanchez, the second doctor seemed to be in a rush. (His examination consisted of shining a flashlight into Mr. Foster's eyes.) After the exam, "he just came in and threw the paper on my dad's legs and said, 'We got two signatures. We're pulling the plug,' He said, 'That's hospital policy.' "
That's when Ms. Sanchez demanded a third opinion. That's also when a nursing supervisor did her own exam and determined Mr Foster had a strong gag and cough reflex and slightly moved his head, signs inconsistent with brain death.
So the hospital finally sent in a neurosurgeon, who examined Mr. Foster. The man, he said, was not brain-dead. And he should know. He's the brain doc.
Foster, died 11 days later at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. By then his organs were not viable for donation.
The Times continues:
"The apparent close call is the second in recent months to raise questions about whether, amid a national organ shortage, doctors might be compromising the care of prospective donors. Law enforcement authorities in San Luis Obispo County are investigating whether a transplant surgeon tried to hasten the death of a 26-year-old patient last year by ordering high volumes of pain medication."
So what are the morals of this story?
1. Never get sick in California.
2. Or at least don't do it in Fresno.
3. Think twice before you sign that "organ donor" card.
4. No, better make that "think thrice." Twice was clearly not enough here.
5. Next time you hear someone sneering at the memory of Terry Schiavo, ask him if he'd consider a trip to Fresno.
"A man whose family agreed to donate his organs for transplant upon his death was wrongly declared brain-dead by two doctors at a Fresno hospital, records and interviews show.
Only after the man's 26-year-old daughter and a nurse became suspicious was a third doctor, a neurosurgeon, brought in. He determined that John Foster, 47, was not brain-dead, a condition that would have cleared the way for his organs to be removed, records of the Feb. 21 incident show."
Mr. Foster, an automobile mechanic, had collapsed three days before the incident and was diagnosed with a catastrophic brain hemmorage. Within hours the hospital notified the California transplant network that they had a, ahem, "live" one. His daughter, Melanie Sanchez, agreed to donate her father's organs.
Then the donor network staff got into the act. Ms.Sanchez says "she got calls "at least twice a day" from the organ group, saying: "We have to get the body parts in a certain time. Your dad can be a life-saver to someone else. How is he doing today? Did he go up or down?"
"It kind of blew my mind," she said, "like they were waiting like vultures, waiting for someone to die so they could scoop them up."
California law requires that two physicians declare a patient brain-dead before the patient's organs can be harvested. On February 21 two doctors did so, but according to Ms. Sanchez, the second doctor seemed to be in a rush. (His examination consisted of shining a flashlight into Mr. Foster's eyes.) After the exam, "he just came in and threw the paper on my dad's legs and said, 'We got two signatures. We're pulling the plug,' He said, 'That's hospital policy.' "
That's when Ms. Sanchez demanded a third opinion. That's also when a nursing supervisor did her own exam and determined Mr Foster had a strong gag and cough reflex and slightly moved his head, signs inconsistent with brain death.
So the hospital finally sent in a neurosurgeon, who examined Mr. Foster. The man, he said, was not brain-dead. And he should know. He's the brain doc.
Foster, died 11 days later at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. By then his organs were not viable for donation.
The Times continues:
"The apparent close call is the second in recent months to raise questions about whether, amid a national organ shortage, doctors might be compromising the care of prospective donors. Law enforcement authorities in San Luis Obispo County are investigating whether a transplant surgeon tried to hasten the death of a 26-year-old patient last year by ordering high volumes of pain medication."
So what are the morals of this story?
1. Never get sick in California.
2. Or at least don't do it in Fresno.
3. Think twice before you sign that "organ donor" card.
4. No, better make that "think thrice." Twice was clearly not enough here.
5. Next time you hear someone sneering at the memory of Terry Schiavo, ask him if he'd consider a trip to Fresno.
Fresno is one of the more down-to earth regions of California (much looked down upon by the coastal types) If you aren't safe in Fresno, you're pretty much in trouble everywhere else.
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