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  • From: "Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>
  • To: "Homestead mailing list" <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Homestead] oops ! .... ??
  • Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2004 21:15:43 -0700

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.''



© 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



  • [Homestead] oops ! .... ??, Toni Hawryluk, 10/05/2004

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