Patient awoke to doctors mistakenly preparing to remove her organs

[Brian4Liberty]

And if this person had not awakened, they would have removed her organs and killed her. And no one would have ever known...wonder how many times this has happened?



...
But sometimes things do, in fact, go horribly wrong, as in the case of a Syracuse, New York, resident who awoke during a trip to the emergency room to find that doctors were mistakenly preparing to remove her organs.

The Post-Standard reports that in October 2009, Colleen S. Burns was taken to the emergency room at St. Joseph’s Hospital Center, suffering from a drug overdose. Although a nurse told doctors that Burns was recovering from her overdose, those same doctors pronounced her dead.

A call was placed to her family informing them that Burns had passed away, and the family subsequently agreed to have her removed from life support and gave the hospital clearance to harvest her organs.

But Burns was not dead. In fact, a number of signs clearly pointed to her being alive. When a nurse performed a mandatory reflex test on Burns, her toes curled downward. She appeared to be breathing independently of a hospital respirator, and her lips and tongue were said to have moved moments before doctors prepared to remove her organs.

Nonetheless, the nurse then followed instructions to give Burns a powerful sedative, a seemingly unnecessary move if the patient were actually dead.

Thankfully, Burns awoke moments before doctors were going to cut her open to remove the organs from her presumed-dead body.

"Despite this sequence of events," said a federal report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, "intensive objective peer review and root cause analysis of the case was not done by the hospital's quality assurance program until prompted by the Department of Health."

"They were just kind of shocked themselves," Burns’ mother, Lucille Kuss, told the paper when asked how doctors responded to the morbid mistake. "It came as a surprise to them as well."

It’s unlikely that Burns’ case was entirely isolated. A report from the American Association for Justice claims that preventable medical errors are the sixth largest cause of death in the U.S.
...
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/patient-awoke-doctors-errantly-preparing-remove-her-organs-141547610.html

[Antischism]

http://www.luisescobarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Artists-and-the-Value-of-Learning-to-Market-Yourself..jpg

[dinosaur]

What You Lose When You Sign That Donor Card
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204603004577269910906351598.html


...Here's the weird part. If you fail the apnea test, your respirator is reconnected. You will begin to breathe again, your heart pumping blood, keeping the organs fresh. Doctors like to say that, at this point, the "person" has departed the body. You will now be called a BHC, or beating-heart cadaver.

Still, you will have more in common biologically with a living person than with a person whose heart has stopped. Your vital organs will function, you'll maintain your body temperature, and your wounds will continue to heal. You can still get bedsores, have heart attacks and get fever from infections.

"I like my dead people cold, stiff, gray and not breathing," says Dr. Michael A. DeVita of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "The brain dead are warm, pink and breathing.

You might also be emitting brainwaves. Most people are surprised to learn that many people who are declared brain dead are never actually tested for higher-brain activity. The 1968 Harvard committee recommended that doctors use electroencephalography (EEG) to make sure the patient has flat brain waves. Today's tests concentrate on the stalk-like brain stem, in charge of basics such as breathing, sleeping and waking. The EEG would alert doctors if the cortex, the thinking part of your brain, is still active. "

[Brian4Liberty]

There can be little doubt that living people, who would have recovered, have had their organs removed and killed. The only question is how many...

[youngbuck]

This is why I am not an organ donor.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

This is why I am not an organ donor.

Same, the second you become an organ donor, the hospital has a REASON to kill you.
I would sue the shit out of these people. I don't think this was an accident at all. I think this was a deliberate attempt to harvest organs despite if the patient was alive or not. The person(s) responsibility should be charged with attempting murder.

[dannno]

How can this be classified as a 'preventable medical error' ?

[Working Poor]

I read a very chillng book written by a doctor and a nurse who were giving an account of their experiences with working with transplant donors. After reading it I became convinced that organ trans plant would not be in my future on either side of the issue.

I happen to know a couple of different people who allowed doctors to perform a heart transplant on their children on the reveiving end. The children never seem to fell good and will have to take meds for the rest of their lives. All the parents seemed to be afraid thst they did the wrong thing.

[phill4paul]

Nightmare. Keep me away from those institutions of death.

[green73]

This is why I am not an organ donor.

No effin way some slug is getting my shit.

[Philhelm]

No effin way some slug is getting my shit.

All your guts are belong to us.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

one day in the future you won't be sentenced to death, just sentenced to be an organ donor!

[Dr.3D]

The EEG would alert doctors if the cortex, the thinking part of your brain, is still active.
Maybe they should perform an EEG on the doctors to make sure their brain is still active.

[mad cow]

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/799/

Recommended further reading on this subject when the night winds howl.

[AJ Antimony]

Reason #67,385,496 to avoid New York!

[AJ Antimony]

one day in the future you won't be sentenced to death, just sentenced to be an organ donor!

In all seriousness, one day in the future there won't be any more transplants. We'll be able to replicate our own organs.

[Smart3]

I'm an organ donor and I'm not concerned.

For one, no one is going to do this to a young person like me. My entire family would be at the hospital and wouldn't allow any malpractice.

I'm going off the organ donation list when I leave California (in a few years), in part because we're a few years away from a medical breakthrough in lab-grown organs becoming affordable. Also as AJ mentioned, there's the possibility of injecting your stem cells into a pig and growing the organ you need in the pig. In other words, organ donors will be a thing of the past.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

In all seriousness, one day in the future there won't be any more transplants. We'll be able to replicate our own organs.and how many millions will that cost? :X

[angelatc]

I'm not an organ donor because it's bull that the only person who doesn't profit from the procedure is the donor.

The recipient gets to live, the doctors and nurses, pilots, transporters, aides, coordinators, and every other grunt along the way gets compensated financially. But my family can't sell my organs to pay for my funeral?

Oh well. i died a selfish brat. go figure. But i won't hesitate celebrating taking one with me.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

I'm not an organ donor because it's bull that the only person who doesn't profit from the procedure is the donor.

The recipient gets to live, the doctors and nurses, pilots, transporters, aides, coordinators, and every other grunt along the way gets compensated financially. But my family can't sell my organs to pay for my funeral?

Oh well. i died a selfish brat. go figure. But i won't hesitate celebrating taking one with me.
I feel kind of the opposite. If I'm donating why is the donor being charged so much? Same with blood. If I'm donating MY BLOOD what gives the hospital the right to charge for MY BLOOD which I donated? All donation means is giving them a free supply of blood, though I do understand sometimes you can actually get paid to "donate"

[Smart3]

and how many millions will that cost? :X
I'm thinking around 15k to start, dropping lower and lower over time.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

I'm thinking around 15k to start, dropping lower and lower over time.

15k for the organ then 100k for the hospital to put it in?

[kpitcher]

one day in the future you won't be sentenced to death, just sentenced to be an organ donor!

Larry Niven wrote a series of novels with Organlegging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organlegging)as part of the universe.


On Earth, the problem led to a repressive society almost unrecognizable by today's standards. Since the average citizens wished to extend their lives, the world government sought to increase the supply by using condemned criminals to supply the organ banks. When this failed to meet the demand, citizens would vote for the death penalty for more and more trivial crimes. First violent crimes, then theft, tax evasion, false advertising, and even traffic violations became punishable by the organ banks.

[kcchiefs6465]

No effin way some slug is getting my shit.
Hell, after this story I'm more hesitant but why not?

Dead is dead.

I wish them good luck in their search. Maybe they'll get luck and find themselves a usable kidney or gall bladder. :toady:

3-D printing looks prominent though. Luckily.

[kcchiefs6465]

I feel kind of the opposite. If I'm donating why is the donor being charged so much? Same with blood. If I'm donating MY BLOOD what gives the hospital the right to charge for MY BLOOD which I donated? All donation means is giving them a free supply of blood, though I do understand sometimes you can actually get paid to "donate"
You should be able to donate or to sell if you wish.

As charitable as I consider myself to be, I share Angela's concerns. What's a kidney worth nowdays? Probably at least $10,000. I should have the option to sell or donate my organs as I see fit. They're mine and death is a burden.

[angelatc]

I feel kind of the opposite. If I'm donating why is the donor being charged so much? Same with blood. If I'm donating MY BLOOD what gives the hospital the right to charge for MY BLOOD which I donated? All donation means is giving them a free supply of blood, though I do understand sometimes you can actually get paid to "donate"


They used to allow you to 'bank' your blood, meaning that if you donated x number of pints, you would be able to get x pints for free if you ever needed it. But something changed - i don't remember what, and the search engines aren't handing it to me, but they don't do that any more.

so i don't give blood either.

[susano]

Hell, after this story I'm more hesitant but why not?

Dead is dead.

I wish them good luck in their search. Maybe they'll get luck and find themselves a usable kidney or gall bladder. :toady:

3-D printing looks prominent though. Luckily.



I guess you missed the part WHERE SHE WASN'T DEAD.

sheesh.

And to that other poster who said it could never happen to him because he young (WTF?): This woman was early 30s.


I have a friend who's mother was an organ donor. She had a stroke and instead of being able to die peacefully and comfortably, all sorts of medical procedures commenced to keep the organs in the best shape. The one thing her mother always instructed her (my friend) she did not want, EVER, happened. They put her on a ventilator. My friend knew her mother suffered because of it.

Fuck this organ donation shit. It's not like you guarantee that you'll be DOA from an accident and then they'll take your organs. NO. You could get really sick and look like you might not make it and they'll start treating you as a donor (dead already) and your suffering caused by their procedures will be tough shit.

[KEEF]

I put on the back of my driver's licence that I will donate my left testicle... and that is all they get.

[kcchiefs6465]

I guess you missed the part WHERE SHE WASN'T DEAD.

sheesh.

And to that other poster who said it could never happen to him because he young (WTF?): This woman was early 30s.


I have a friend who's mother was an organ donor. She had a stroke and instead of being able to die peacefully and comfortably, all sorts of medical procedures commenced to keep the organs in the best shape. The one thing her mother always instructed her (my friend) she did not want, EVER, happened. They put her on a ventilator. My friend knew her mother suffered because of it.

Fuck this organ donation shit. It's not like you guarantee that you'll be DOA from an accident and then they'll take your organs. NO. You could get really sick and look like you might not make it and they'll start treating you as a donor (dead already) and your suffering caused by their procedures will be tough shit.
You apparently missed the part, "..after this story I'm more hesitant but why not?"

When you are dead you are dead. (please refrain from capitalizing "she wasn't dead" in your response. I understand this.)

To the sentiment of to hell with organ donation, you're probably right. Me personally, I would like the person receiving an extension of life from my corpse to pay for a respectable funeral. I wouldn't try to gouge someone for an organ but why the hospital is able to keep the entirety of profits from your Being is beyond me.

I wish them good luck. Frankenstein me out. I'd rather my family be able to keep the proceeds.

In short, as horrible as this story is, I'm an organ donor. Might change it but not anytime soon.

[ClydeCoulter]

Err on the side of profits...everywhere...:(