Kidney Donor Files Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Most of us expect organ transplants to be an operation in which doctors do their due diligence in assessing both the donor and recipient. However, as the Waco Tribune-Herald reports, this was not the outcome in a recent medical malpractice case that concerned a kidney transplant.
A woman from Waco, Texas donated a kidney to her grandmother 11 months before the older woman died from cancer.
The donor and her grandfather then filed a medical malpractice suit against the doctor, Robert Joseph Sumagpao Go, M.D., and the Central Texas Nephrology Associates.
The grandmother underwent a kidney transplant two years ago, with the kidney being donated by her granddaughter. However, the grandmother was suffering from terminal cancer, which was not properly diagnosed before the transplant surgery.
A CAT scan of the grandmother’s head was taken, and a radiologist noticed temporal bone irregularities and commented that “it would be difficult to exclude metastatic disease or multiple myeloma.” Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that starts in the blood’s plasma cells.
The transplant was performed a month after the CAT scan, with it being determined that the victim was suffering from fatal terminal cancer in the form of multiple myeloma only 6 months after that.
In sum, the granddaughter needlessly donated her kidney to her grandmother because of the terminal illness.
There seem to be obvious hospital mistakes and surgical mistakes, among other medical malpractices, in the negligent act of failing to review the CAT scan before the procedure.
Hopefully, the family can be properly compensated, as it is unfortunate enough that they have lost a loved one.
Shapiro Law Group – Medical Malpractice Attorneys Serving the Tampa Bay Area
