Thursday, September 20, 2012

Surgeon Accused of Speeding a Death to Harvest Organs

Really interesting news article for White Collar/ Corporate Crime class. We will be looking at occupational and avocational crime in class next Tuesday and Thursday. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/us/27transplant.html?pagewanted=all

22 comments:

  1. First of all, I think the poor, sometimes uneducated, immigrant community are perfect targets to be taken advantage of. Mainly because this group "goes along to get along". In this case I think everyone on the donation "team" was over zealous and because of this not only did this young man die horribly but in vain since his parts were deemed unusable. I did follow up research to see the outcome of the case and the doctor involved was found not guilty. However, the jurers commented that because of this case "donation after cardiac death" would have to be redefined and ethic guidelines redrawn in reference to these type of donations... I don't know about all that because if it were MY 25 year old child...that would sound lame and would not console me one bit. Now do I beleive he is in a better place, absolutely. But he had a ight to die with some dignity and not with motive.

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  2. Dr. Roozrokh crossed ethical lines in the medical industry giving Mr. Navarro excessive medication that were painkillers like morphine and Ativan that are used during a protocol of patients being taken off life support. Dr. Roozrokh was acquitted but was it because he was found not to be guilty or because this would have been the first case in the united states where a doctor had tried to speed a potential donor’s death and if convicted guilty would have turned away potential donors, families, and transplant organizations would have had a more difficult time after this incident. The patient was not brain dead and the mother agreed to give away her sons organs for donation but however did Dr. Roozrokh plan for his patient to die within 30minutes of the protocol time he has to wait to open the patient and start the transplant. Mr. Navarro died completely in 8 hours Dr. Roozrokh must have known that his plan to try and rush the patient death would have not worked. Mr. Navarro organs afterwards were not even used so everything the doctor did was for no use. Either way Dr. Roozrokh did break ethical human laws, but no state or federal law.

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  3. I am an organ donor. Reading this article does not make me regret my decision. I cannot imagine the difficulty of being a doctor faced with this choice. On the one hand, you have a human being who will never again have a quality life. On the other hand, you have a person who could have a fantastic life, but needs an organ first. To me it would be very difficult to make this decision. Either way, you have a person’s life in your hands. One person will die and the other will live.
    The only time the above situation exists is when the would-be organ donor has no chance of regaining consciousness. In some cases, I think the donor might even want to die instead of come to with severe brain damage. At least I would not want to come to with severe brain damage. If Mr. Navarro had the possibility of regaining consciousness, yet Dr. Roozrokh prescribed excessive drugs, then this is murder. Saving the life of a person in need of an organ is important too. If Mr. Navarro was going to die anyway what is the problem in speeding up the process? The problem is that some Doctors will let someone die, even if they were capable of recovery. If Doctors could be honest about the organ donor, then I would support Dr. Roozrokh’s decision.

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  4. I would first like to say that my heart goes out this woman and her family. I could not imagine going through all those medical issues with my child, then I turn around and he is dead. I believe that Dr. Roozrokh should have deeply explained his concerns the mother and explained to her the options she has. I believe with her realizing that her son had no chance of recovery, that he was completed brain dead, I believe she wouldn't want her son to suffer. In addition to giving her the chance to prepare for her farewells. As those in the medical field, we put our lives in their hands mainly doctors, nurses, and especially surgeons. I think this could have been handled better,it does make one wonder what exactly was his intentions after Mr. Navarro died. Was this going to be for profit gain or to save someone's life without monetary gifts. In addition, his organs were too damaged to be used, what a waste of precious lives. Not to mention Mr. Navarro being in that state for 8 hours, is a miserable way to die and that should have been considered in his sentencing. I also found it weird how Dr. Roozrokh could face up to 8 years and Mr. Navarro suffered for 8 hours before death.

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  5. I believe that Dr. Roozrokh should be found guilty for the simple face that he knowingly broke donor protocols. He should have his license taken, serve prison time and have to pay Ms. Navarro. When Dr. Roozrokh was ordering all the medication for Mr. Navarro he should have stopped and thought about how he would feel if he was put in this situation with someone that he loved. Putting him in prison will give him time to think about his actions.

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  6. I personally think that it doesn't matter at this point whether or not Dr. Roozrokh did it. The coroner said the man died of natural causes, and I would trust his medical opinion over any other medical professional. Even if Dr. Roozrokh did give him excessive amounts, I'm sure he would have gone for the brain-death approach, allowing him to immediately harvest the organs. What they are claiming is he was going for a heart-death approach, forcing him to wait to harvest, which doesn't make any sense in my mind. The organs didn't even get to be harvested because they had deteriorated so much. If he had really intended to hurry his death, he would have given the patient something to make him brain-dead, again, so he could harvest his organs as quickly and efficiently as possible.

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  7. The count of administering a controlled substance should not have even been a charge because it is commonly used to subside anxiety in dying patients, which Mr. Navarro was in fact dying. Even though his mother did say she wanted to donate his organs because she did not want him to suffer any longer, the law says that the surgeons who do the transplants are not allowed in the room until 5 minutes after the support is cut off, which they violated. Dr. Roozrokh gave him the medication which according to the coroner, did not kill him because he actually died from natural causes so I feel like the only thing that the doctor is guilty of is being in the room to harvest before the allocated time that is the law. Even though his death was very traumatic, I do not think you can blame the surgeon because the coroner DID say that he died of natural causes.

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  8. I would say that I have mix feelings on this topic. I believe what the doctor did was unethical. However I understand why the doctor made that particular choice. I do believe that Dr. Roozrokh should be held accountable for his actions regarding using unethical methods to obtain the organs. Typically Roozrokh would have been required to have family members or spouse permission. To extract his organs since he was unable to. However in this particular situation you have to ask yourself sometimes do we follow or ignore rules and regulations if the outcome outweighs the negative. For example, if Dr. Roozrokh could have saved several life’s with extracting the patient organs as a society would we be okay with that choice regardless of the polices or ethical procedures.


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  9. It is clear to me that Dr. Hootan C. Roozrokh broke the rules of protocol by being in the donor’s room before death and by ordering medication to hasten the man’s death. I’m wondering why Roozrokh found himself in this situation in the first place. There must have been a failure by the hospital to follow a clear policy regarding transplant procedures. Since the harvesting technique of “Donation after Cardiac Arrest” calls for a speedy retrieval of organs, I see no malice in administering the drugs to hasten the donor’s death. The donor’s mother had agreed to donate her son’s organs, and Dr. Roozrokh did nothing that adversely affected the quality or the essential length of the donor’s life. When the man failed to die when the ventilator was removed, I believe Roozrokh had only two choices: to proceed with the transplant procedure or do nothing and leave. Maybe he should have simply left, especially considering the litigiousness of today’s society. Nevertheless, I believe the good doctor was willing to break protocol when no harm would be done in order to save another’s life, even possibly risking his own career.

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  10. The fact that this happens at all is absolutely crazy. Doctors take an oath to do anything and everything they can to save a life. This is totally unethical and immoral. I understand that organs are few and far to come by but no one deserves to die quicker. Who knows what they had their time devoted to. Time should never be taken for granted.

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  11. The fact of the matter is the guy should have been allowed to die the way he was suppose to and without assistance. I do realize these doctors have hard choices to make, but without fully knowing these doctors personally, we as patients, or people, have no idea what their true intentions are. Is it to save a life or is it about the profit? No one truly knows but the doctor. What this doctor did was wrong. I think every doctor should treat their patients like it is one of their loved ones and I believe it would help aid them in making the more morale decision. You don't do or treat other people the way you want someone you truly love to be treated.

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  12. I believe that what Dr. Hootan C. Roozrokh did to Mr. Navarro was unethical and he should be punished. Prescribing excessive and improper doses of drugs, such as morphine and Ativan to make a speedy death for Mr. Navarro is a criminal act. He violated donation protocol as well. It’s such a tragedy that even though Mr. Navarro was already getting his ventilator removed and would of died shortly, this Dr. decided he would take his death into his own hands. He didn’t even give Mr. Navarro the chance of him dying on his own time not by medication. I agree with his mother he died without dignity , sympathy and respect.

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  13. I am not really sure what to think of this one. I feel that speeding up Mr. Navarro's death was unethical but arguably justified. When you think of 18 people who die everyday waiting for an organ transplant it leads you to hope that a doctor who took a hippocratic oath, is thinking of those people when he robbed Mr. Navarro of his last few minutes of his already short life. This story is one that could very well affect all of us on either side of the spectrum. That is why it is so hard to definatively assign this as criminal or callous for the greater good.

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  14. I believe what Dr. Roozrokh placed his wants before the wants of the people of the Navarro family. The doctor's actions was very unethical and selfish. The first act of a doctor to my understanding is to save a life. He gave Mr. Navarro medicine to help spend up his death. No one will never know if he would of survive or could been a miracle case. Situations like this places fear is our hearts because we are suppose to trust doctors with the most important thing to a human, which is life. This man was unable to even talk out for himself to ask questions about what the doctor was giving him. The family was not around to see what could of been going. They trusted this doctor and with this situation, it makes it hard to trust any doctor. I understand he wanted to save other lives, but no one would never know if this man could of been miracle because he was robbed of this chance.

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  15. The mother of the dead man did not want her son to suffer. She said so in the tape recording that the donor company made when they called her and asked for her sons organs. So Dr. Roozrokh did not let the man suffer when he administered the drugs. On the other had i find that the hospital may have been at fault due to the failure of monitering the docter who was doing the transplant surgery. They have been in trouble before due to them wanting to cut corners when it comes to transplant surgery. But the question is did the Dr really put his interest in front of the interest of his patient. He was told to remove the dead mans organs. And he did what he was told to do. The patient was already clincally dead, he had brain damage. The doctor was givin permission to take his organs he did not steal them.

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  16. Personally speaking, I would much rather be allowed to die than to stay hooked up to machines without a chance of recovery. And I would not like for any of my family members to have to go through that either. The mother stated that she didn't want her son to suffer. The doctor administered the drugs so that he wouldn't. Mr. Navarro was dead. No doubt this was a tragic thing, but I feel that it is even more tragic, even criminal, for doctors not to harvest his organs in order to allow somebody else a chance at life.

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  17. Dr. Roozrokh had no right to speed up Mr. Navarro's death. I feel like he was taken advantage of because of his pre diagnosed illness of Adrenoleukodystrophy. The medical staff decided that there wasn't any chance of him living, but I think sometimes you never know. They have had cases before where people make it through unbelievable situations. All though, I do not think he was living much of a life from the sounds of it. Being in a nursing home in your twenties does not seem like a way anyone would want to live. Regardless, it was not right for Dr.Roozrokh to speed up Mr. Navarro’s death. What he did was both illegal and unethical. If he didn't die on his own after taking him off the life support, who knows what may have happened had they not sped his death. It’s unlikely that the situation could have turned around for better, yea, but not impossible. Dr. Roozrokh did take Mr. Navarro’s dignity away and I do agree with others who say that he unfortunately died in vain since his organs were too deteriorated for transplant after all of that. Even if Dr.Roozrokh was doing that to save another person’s life, who’s to say that one individuals life is worth more than another’s’?

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  18. A twenty five year old who was in assisted living by the time he was twenty because of a neurological disorder, adrenoleukodystrophy, in which he was diagnosed at nine does not sound like a great life to me. But who is to judge what is and is not a good life. His mother did not want him to suffer too long once he was taken off of the ventilator so she agreed to donate his organs. On the other hand there was a Dr. Roozrokh who was a surgeon that was called to remove Mr. Navarro’s organs. He apparently used excessive amounts of morphine and Ativan to try and make speed up his death so he could harvest the organs sooner. The coroner ruled that Mr. Navarro died of natural causes. Dr. Roozrokh did what he was asked to do. The thing that he did do wrong however was not following protocol when he was supposed to wait five minutes until after he was ruled dead. I agree with the mother when she said he did not deserve to go that way and that it was disrespectful. But at what point do does the doctor make a judgment call when potentially trying to save other peoples’ lives. When does not following protocol outweigh the many potential positive outcomes?

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  19. My heart goes out to the Navarro family. I agree with Candy, when she said “that sometimes poor, uneducated people” especially immigrants are targets to be taken advantage of. I think the doctor did make an unethical choice, and did not follow protocol. For that he should be held responsible for his actions. But, it does not surprise me that he was not found guilty, but it makes you think twice about becoming an organ donor.

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  20. I think that in this case, the doctor should be ruled innocent, if not already. I dont believe that he intentionally killed this guy from reading this article. I mean, he prescribed mediceine, but either way someone was going to die, I think that you find what you're searching for, and what you want to find, and in this case, people are going to be looking for any small thing to pick on to blame him for a death, but I think this may have been taken a bit out of proportion. This guy being a doctor, im sure knew the rules and i dont think he would risk his entire career and studying on one person.
    So I stand behind the Dr's actions and hope he isnt charged.

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  21. 3) First off, I think the doctor should have better explained to the family what was going on. It seems like the phone call was a simple “He’s not going to make it”. But my opinion on this is very on the fence. On hand what the doctor did was unethical and obviously against protocol but these organs that are not being used could be used to help someone who needed them. At the same time though the doctor obviously broke the rules and did something wrong so he should be punished for it. I think the doctor had a very hard choice to make but in the end he broke the rules and protocol by hastening this man’s death. This story is also worse because again the family wasn’t properly informed or educated on what was happening and from what the article tells the family wasn’t even there to say their goodbyes. That just seems so wrong. The more I read into this story the more I think it gets clear cut that this should be persecuted and charged because what the doctor did was wrong. Although sadly 18 people die a day waiting on the transplant list there are rules in place for a reason. So others won’t die an unethical death.

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  22. Dr. Roozrokh was completely wrong for speeding up Mr. Navarro's death, you will never know if he could have actually pulled through last second, if a miracle would have happened at the end. I understand where Dr. Roozrokh was coming from maybe for the reasoning on speeding his death a tad bit faster, to try and help other people if they were waiting on the right donor, but still he did not follow the rules of one's death. In my mind I believe that Dr. Roozrkh should be stripped of his License. The mother of Mr. Navvaro has all the right to be angry. "Even if Dr.Roozrokh was doing that to save another person’s life, who’s to say that one individuals life is worth more than another’s’?" -Kristina Herd This statement from one of the comments above is a very understandable idea, because really who has the right to say one's life is greater than another person's life. What would you do if it was you loved one, and it was their life that was taken away without say? Wouldn't you be mad? Would you try and have the doctor have tons of charges pressed on him? Some of the questions you could ask yourself.

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