Taiwan hospitals fined over HIV organ transplants
Two prestigious Taiwanese hospitals were fined Tw$150,000 ($5,170) each for negligence which led to five patients receiving organs from an HIV positive donor.
The National Taiwan University Hospital and National Cheng Kung University Hospital will also face criminal charges and additional fines if their patients contract the HIV virus from the transplants, the health department said.
The family of a 38-year-old man, surnamed Chiu, decided to donate his organs after he fell to his death last week, unaware that he was an HIV carrier.
Medical technicians performing standard blood tests found that Chiu was HIV positive before his liver, lungs and kidneys were harvested.
But the message was wrongly relayed and doctors were given the green light to carry out the operations.
Health officials have called the cases “critical medical negligence” and said that random inspections will be carried out at the hospitals.
Source AFP
It must have been a very shocking and life changing experience! Imagine, contracting HIV is not a simple sore throat that is self-limiting. The disease itself disables the immune system. That means that something like the common cold can be fatal for someone with HIV, and worst, it may likely to develop into AIDS after a decade.
What went wrong? Any health provider must be aware that patient’s safety is the top priority. Health care professionals, may it be physicians, nurses or other healthcare team members must be PATIENT-CENTERED.
Now, can this be a malpractice case? Will they be held accountable? This reminds me of the article written by Mr. Haskell, a popular lawyer in Spokane WA that has won a bunch of million dollar legal claims. Here it is: Medical Mistakes — A Primer on the Basics of Medical Malpractice. That will supplement everybody with information about medical issues, and further widen horizons about medical malpractice.
To conclude, not all claims connected with clinical practice are MEDICAL MALPRACTICE. There are so called legal aspects that must be considered before concluding the case even this exhibited issue of the infected organs. I hope this will not accrue because if not, it is not a good sign for the health institutions. They should be considered a safe place for the sick and not a place for acquiring more diseases.