Jesica Santillan: Victim of Botched Transplant

[HEMI®Dart]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/02/22/transplant.error/index.html



I am Speechless



Her family wants a 2nd opinion on whether she is brain dead. I don't blame them. I wouldn't believe ANYTHING thay say.



Question: Can they have all the patients out of Duke University Medical Center by Monday morning so the wrecking ball can go to work? Or better yet implode it. Let Jessica's parents push the button.



Blood boiling & VENTING!

 

[illflem]

It's too bad that the girl died but it really irks me that an illegal alien can get two transplant operations for free when US citizens without health insurance can't even afford to have a band-aid put on.

 

[Mike Ellis]

What a shame for that poor girl and her family, sure wish it had worked out differently. The docs screwed up big time, but with humans in the loop it's bound to happen.



When they were doing chemo on me in Houston, the docs scribbled out some calculations for dosage and the nurses went and got the IV bag filled to that prescription. I couldn't read their writing AT ALL and was really sweating when they pumped that first bag into me... if the nurses misinterpreted what the docs wrote they might have OD'd me. I actually found one miscalculation on a later trip, the nurse wasn't happy that I argued with her but she checked and sure enough the dosage would have been way too low for what they wanted. Arggh.



At moments like that you really start thinking about the impact of medical mistakes. They are pretty careful, with people checking your armband and verifying labels on bags match etc etc, but accidents still happen... .

 

[illflem]

My understanding is that she came into the hospital for the first transplant with records for the wrong blood type, no one bothered to double check. The second transplant was sort of a waste because during the time prior to the discovery of the wrong blood type they had been transfusing her with the wrong type. That in itself is enough to cause major problems.

 

[CMNS PWR]

Originally posted by illflem

It's too bad that the girl died but it really irks me that an illegal alien can get two transplant operations for free when US citizens without health insurance can't even afford to have a band-aid put on.

AMEN!

 

[ISB RAMBO]

Just to set the record straight about the 'free' operation. I didn't know this local family personally, but I'm aware that for the last 3+ years there have been numerous fund raisers and donations by organizations to raise the original $500,000 needed to do this operation, one person even donated a house to be sold with all money going to Jesica's cause. This price kept going up to around $1,000,000 for the 'unsuccessful' operation - Duke and the doctors make good livings. This girls parents, although not citizens, both have jobs and pay taxes like the rest of us. I for one donated to their cause and would do so again to help a family like that in need. My heart goes out to the family, I can only imagine what they are going through, it could have been my daughter.

If there is one thing to question, it would be whether or not the second transplant should have been done based on her grave condition. In any case, Duke is ultimately responsible.

Stan

 

[HEMI®Dart]

I wouldn't pay the bill.

 

[TxDieselKid]

Regaurdless of who pays what, or anything else, it is a sad thing that happen. Did anyone happen to see the shot of her on TV, she is about as brain dead as I could think one could be. With my grandfather litterly just about on his death bed this week, I can relate more to the family right about now.



Andrew

 

[Sled Puller]

There REALLY should be a warranty period when then that kind of cash is involved.

Make everybody pay attention a bit more, if they don't collect.



Too many things in this world, people get paid whether they do a good job or not.

I don't have one of those jobs.



What is really sad, is, in trying to cover their mistake, they killed someone else, waitng for those organs.



This mistake is killing three people. Not a firearm or a terrorist involved.

Scary.

 

[NVR FNSH]

Anybody know what the root cause of the mix-up was? I heard somewhere that it was data entry error at the organ donor end. Anybody know if it's standard procedure to double/triple check blood types in a case like this? My guess is it's too late to check when the donated organs arrive for transplant.



Not sure if any one person or organization can be blamed - yet.



Brian

 

[illflem]

My understanding is she checked into Duke with records that listed the wrong blood type.



Back to the alien thing. Even though her first transplant may have been paid for there is a unwritten rule in transplant circles that American donor organs are for Americans. This is due to rich foreigners using their bucks to crowd in line for organs when transplants first became popular.

The Jesica Santillan case has many in the medical community concerned that many people will not join or will pull out of the donor program if they think their body parts may go to an illegal or to another country.

 

[NVR FNSH]

illflem,

I thought the organ donor lists were reasonably color/class blind. Think about the stink that was made when Larry Hagman (JR on Dallas) and Joe DiMaggio (at least I think it was him) received liver transplants. I'm not really sure I want my organs being slated for an american just because they're an american. I'd like them to go to the person with the best chance of survival. Of course if it's a death row inmate that's a different story... .



Brian

 

[Fireman Dave]

From what I read today, it looks like she didn't come up on the computerized match list for the first set of organs because her blood type didn't match - so the system was working correctly at that point. But for whatever reason, the organs weren't accepted by 2 other recipients on the list because of various reasons. I think one was because they weren't a match in size and the other was because the potential recipient wasn't ready for the operation. So then they contacted Duke and asked them if they had anyone that needed these. This is where the mix-up occured. The surgeon said yes for Jessica, but he didn't verify the blood type match like he should have (or someone should have).



As for who gets them - my take on that is it's out of my hands. I just have to go on good faith that someone will get my organs that really needs them. I guess I don't care who they are if it helps them (other than a death row inmate). I just think it would be unfortunate if someone who's willing doesn't donate because they might end up having their organs go to someone that they don't see as deserving as much as someone else. I think with that kind of thinking, we run a greater risk of punishing someone we agree with getting the organs than we do in keeping them from someone we don't want to have them. If my organs end up in a death row inmate, then I guess I'm willing to take that risk in the hopes that someone other than that gets them.



I understand some of the other sentiment, though - no flames intended. Just my opinion on how I feel about it for me.

 

[sdalton]

I dont blame the parents for coming into the country illegalls, to help their daughter. But, when the authorities found out about it, they should have been deported. The girl, as pathetic as her plight was, should not have been put on the donor list. They were all illegal, they broke the laws. They are not tax paying Americans. We, as americans are footing the bill for the illegal immigrants in this country, who come for free medical care that you and I pay for. Those of you who live close to the border, have you ever had to go to the E. R. for anything? Good luck on getting in fast. The American hospitals in border states are going bankrupt and our taxes go up to pay for it.

As for her parents filing a lawsuit, well, I think they should. They should be compensated with enough money and transpertation fare to make it back home.

 

[illflem]

Most of my info comes from a woman I went out with for several years that was an "organ broker" matching donors and recipients.

There are a set of medical prerequisites to whether a person gets a transplant, one of them being the person won't live without it.

Money determines who is referred to a transplant center and is put on a waiting list since most insurance won't cover it.

Order on the list determines who gets a transplant first. Generally the more critical of the need for transplant, the higher the priority that is assigned rather than the person's chances of benefiting from the transplant, after all the alternative to a transplant is death anyway. But if the person's health is so bad at the time of surgery that the act of transplanting would most likely endanger their life they are given lower priory, it doesn't mean they're off the list though.

My own feeling is that the doctors at Duke just did the second transplant as a way of saying they tried as hard as they could even though they knew it would have a low chance of success.



One thing the courts have decided is that you can't deny the recipient based on race,creed,etc. even if they are your own organs. This has turned off many potential donors already, now you can add illegal alien to the turn off list.

It would really suck if I crashed my truck and my heart went to an al Queda member serving a life sentence but it is entirely possible.

Another recent debate in transplant circles is whether it's ethical to give a transplant to a person who is HIV positive but doesn't have full blown AIDS. So far the consensus is they should receive the transplant.



Another big factor that comes into being a potential donor is the fear of being declared dead for your organs when you are still alive. For this reason my girlfriend who worked in transplant circles and knew most everything there is to know about it chose not to be a donor. I didn't consider her to be a paranoid person, there must be something to this...