8mm
Posted on 07/30/2007 6:12:33 PM PDT by Coleus
A San Francisco transplant surgeon was criminally charged today with allegedly attempting to hasten the death last year of a 26-year-old disabled man on life support in order to harvest his organs more quickly. The charges are the first in the nation against a physician for his role in a transplant and are sure to raise further uneasiness about a somewhat controversial practice in which organs are retrieved before a patient is brain-dead.
The San Luis Obispo County district attorney's office accused Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, 33, of dependent adult abuse, administering a harmful substance and prescribing an unlawful controlled substance without legitimate medical purpose. The surgeon allegedly ordered massive amounts of narcotic painkillers and sedatives for Ruben Navarro, a physically and mentally disabled man, "to accelerate Mr. Navarro's death," according to a written release from the district attorney. In addition, Roozrokh is accused of administering Betadine, a topical antiseptic, into Navarro's stomach.
Navarro died in 2006. No organs were recovered because he did not die within the 30 minutes after being removed from life support. Roozrokh's lawyer, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, called his client an "extremely dedicated and accomplished organ transplant surgeon" and said the charges filed against him were "unfounded and ill-advised." "Dr. Roozrokh did not commit any crime," Schwartzbach said in a written statement.
If convicted of the three counts, he faces up to eight years in state prison, the district attorney's office said. A warrant was issued for Roozrokh's arrest and he is expected to turn himself in this week.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
LOL!!!
Whattamarooon!! The written porition of the bio wraps with this bit of corporate boardroom smoochie-smoochie lobbed, en flagrante, toward the Kaiser-Permanente Marekting Department.
I actually know this surgeon—we were friends. He was a student where I was a surgery resident. He may have been a muslim at some point, but was not at all a practicing muslim (like many Iranians in this country). His family fled Iran around the time the Shah was overthrown.
When I saw this story, I was flabergasted. This is not like him at all. I seriously doubt he did any of this.
But then again, I haven’t spoken to him in 8 years.
Well, perhaps he’s not a practicing Muslim. I was just speculating.
The pressure is on doctors who do transplants to get the organs for their patients, and they may be tempted to cut corners and rob one patient to help another. It’s a dangerous temptation that opened up when they started redefining the meaning of death with terms like “brain death,” “persistent vegetative state,” and so forth.
I have a colateral relation who is married to an Iranian doctor, and I don’t believe he is a practicing Muslim, either, although I have really not seen much of them in a long time.
Yes, in the circumstances it all sounds a bit embarrassing, doesn’t it. I’m surprised they left the web page up.
I’m confused.
I thought transplant surgeons only had contact with patients after they’d been declared brain dead.
What was this even doing around the patient in the first place?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.