It’s a lucky day when a patient who needs an organ transplant has a willing donor. It’s even more fortuitous when that donor is the patient’s spouse. One man in New York planned to receive a kidney from his wife through a living donor transplant. His wife was a match and the transplant was a go.
But all of the good news quickly turned into devastation. The wife’s harvested kidney apparently sat in the operating room while some sort of fluid dripped from the ceiling and onto the kidney. As hospital staff tried to save the kidney, the surgical transplant was further delayed. Both husband and wife were under anesthesia at the time and did not know what was going on with the organ. By the time the transplant was complete, the wife’s kidney barely worked.
Now, the couple is in a worse state than where they started. The husband still does not have a functioning kidney and his wife only has one kidney.
The hospital continues to deny any responsibility with the dysfunctional kidney and states that all ceilings in the hospital are in good condition. But the couple maintains that a fluid contaminated the organ and that the transplant was delayed as hospital staff tried to clean up the kidney. The couple claims that the physicians labeled the organ as robust just before the procedure and wonder what type of substance could have changed that diagnosis so quickly.
The hospital has not fessed up to any leak or substance dripping on the kidney even though a doctor’s report stated that fluid did fall from the ceiling in the operating room onto the table where the kidney was being prepped. The couple is now suing the hospital for negligence.
These conflicting reports are frustrating for any patient who has suffered due to negligence by a hospital or surgeon. Surgical injuries can range from an infection to organ puncture or even wrong-site surgeries. Patients can contact a New York surgical error attorney if they are injured as a result of medical negligence and may be able to receive compensation for their injuries.
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New York couple’s transplant derailed after leaking ceiling
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Jay W. Dankner
JAY W. DANKNER was born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York. After graduation from law school in 1973, he joined the firm of the legendary, Harry H, Lipsig, under whose tutelage he learned the intricacies of civil litigation and trials. He tried and won his first case against General Motors in a case involving a design defect within weeks after his admission. Thereafter, he focused his attention on the emerging and developing field of law known as products liability litigation.
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