| News From Transplant Week of January 27, 2002 / Vol. 3 No. 4 |
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Prosecutors Blocked Heart Donation by Family of Hockey Practice Victim |
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The family of a man beaten to death at his son's hockey practice wanted to donate his heart to a person waiting for a transplant, but prosecutors -- concerned that it might jeopardize the case against his killer -- would not allow it. The family donated Michael Costin's liver and kidneys to transplant recipients after he was assaulted by Thomas Junta in an argument over rough play at the hockey rink. But District Attorney Martha Coakley blocked the donation of his heart out of concern that Junta's lawyers might argue that Costin dies of a pre-existing heart condition. "The need to maintain the integrity of the case trumped donation," she said. "We explained it to the Costin family and the organ bank, and they had no quarrel." "It's
very, very likely that, because of this decision, someone with
heart disease died," said Dr. Lachlan Forrow, director of
the ethics program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "I
think it's tragic." Other sources: Boston Globe |
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