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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-04-191313.asp?t=apnew&vts=10420042101<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-04-191313.asp?t=apnew&vts=10420042101>

 

Colorado coroner rules man's death a homicide after doctors remove organs for 
transplants

By DAVE ZELIO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

DENVER, Oct. 4 - A western Colorado coroner said Monday that two hospitals 
allowed vital organs to be removed from a man before they had proven he was 
brain dead, and he declared the death a homicide. 

 

     The cause of William Rardin's death was ''removal of his internal organs 
by an organ recovery team,'' Montrose County Coroner Mark Young said. He said 
he did not believe the case should be a criminal matter, but that it ''should 
lead to a clarification of what the accepted standard is.'' 
       Young said Montrose Memorial Hospital in Montrose and St. Mary's 
Hospital in Grand Junction did not follow ''accepted medical standards'' or 
meet state guidelines in determining that Rardin, 31, was brain dead after he 
shot himself last month. 
       Rardin's heart, liver, pancreas and two kidneys were transplanted into 
waiting patients. 
       Officials with St. Mary's and the organization that coordinates organ 
donation in <>Colorado and Wyoming insisted the surgeons followed rules and 
did nothing wrong. 
       ''We have never, ever had anything like this presented to us before,'' 
said Sue Dunn, vice president of organ procurement operations for the 
Denver-based Donor Alliance. ''We talked to the family the day of the 
donation. ... This gentleman was on the donor registry. We've heard nothing 
from them regarding this.'' 
       Attempts to locate Rardin's family were unsuccessful and someone who 
answered the phone at the Montrose hospital said no one was available to 
comment. 
       Young said each hospital performed a test that did not prove Rardin 
was dead, and that more tests should have been done. He would not discuss 
details of the tests. 
       Rardin was brought to Montrose Memorial on Sept. 26 and declared brain 
dead, Young said. He was then taken by helicopter to St. Mary's, where he was 
again declared brain dead and surgeons removed his organs. 
       Dan Prinster, a vice president at St. Mary's, said the hospital was 
willing to have a third party evaluate how Rardin's case was handled to prove 
everything was done correctly. 
       Young said state lawmakers should take up the issue. 
       ''I think it (the organ donation) was done in good faith. ... But the 
standard has me thinking about taking the organ donation card off my 
license,'' Young said. ''I don't mind donating organs if I'm dead, but I want 
to be dead first.'' 



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