Potential organ donor was wrongly declared brain-dead

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-transplant12apr12,0,3456303.story?coll=la-home-local

Potential organ donor was wrongly declared brain-dead
The error raises concerns about the medical care of those who have promised their organs for transplants.
By Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, Times Staff Writers
April 12, 2007

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.

"It kind of blew my mind," said the daughter, Melanie Sanchez, "like they were waiting like vultures, waiting for someone to die so they could scoop them up."

Foster, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage, died 11 days later at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno. By then, Sanchez said, his organs were not viable for donation.

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.

Contacted Wednesday, Community Medical Center's spokesman John Zelezny characterized Foster's case as "unusual" and said it "wouldn't surprise me" if the medical staff launched an internal review.

"This hasn't fully played out yet," he said. National experts said they believe that it is uncommon for a patient to be declared brain-dead incorrectly. But the ramifications are great, they said, both for the potential donors and for the integrity of the organ donation process.

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have probably cost thousands of people their lives that won't receive needed transplants because people will be afraid to donate.
They just set the organ donation program back in a huge way.
I hope they lose their medical license and I wouldn't be adverse to declaring them brain dead so that their organs can go to needy recipients.

This is terrible.

It is terrible because two doctors made such a terrible error that could have resulted in a tragedy.

It is also terrible because it might deter people from becoming organ donors.

And that, too, would be a terrible tragedy.

Because organ donation is a real blessing to the people (and their families) who are given new life through transplanted organs.

The two doctors involved should be investigated thoroughly and punished if appropriate.

There have been other incidents of this. I used to happily fill out my organ donor thingy for the back of my license when I'd get a new one. No more. It's best not to make yourself worth more dead than alive. :-)

Julie