Hospital faces medical practice lawsuit after kidney transplant

A hospital faces a serious medical malpractice lawsuit after doctors implanted a woman’s partner with her kidney despite tests which indicated that the woman was infected with hepatitis C. The woman’s partner needed the kidney because he had diabetes related kidney disease, but the woman fears that the man’s medical condition will make it hard for him to fight a new hepatitis C infection.

“Because he’s on anti-rejection drugs, the hepatitis C will be a lot worse in him,” she said.

The woman says in addition to ignoring a blood test which indicated that she had hepatitis C, the hospital tried to cover up its mistakes. She said that she was called into a meeting where doctors accused her of cheating on her longtime partner of 21 years and the father of her 18-year-old son. The doctors then allegedly accused her of being a drug user before attempting to coerce her into keeping her hepatitis C diagnosis a secret from her partner.

Outraged, the woman decided to sue.

The hospital denies any attempts at cover up and issued a statement that it sincerely regretted “the human error that caused this situation.” The hospital also said that it responded to the hepatitis C fiasco by closing its kidney and liver transplant for two months, demoting a surgeon, and suspending a nurse. The hospital also added that it notified the United Network for Organ Sharing of the incident.

The woman believes that the hospital’s apology is adequate and shirks responsibility for medical malpractice. “They never actually did come out and say they made a mistake,” the woman said of her medical providers. “They gave an apology but they never said they messed up.”

Source: MSNBC, “Couple sues hospital after he gets her infected kidney,” JoNel Aleccia, Sept. 21, 2011