2 Fired at Florida OPO in Organ Handling Probe

Investigators determined Dr. Jose A. Cardo, a LifeQuest Organ Recovery Services' director, was involved in the Florida Research Foundation, which received 16 research organs from LifeQuest last year. The foundation operates out of Cardo's home and several of his relatives are company officials, said Paul Rosenberg, chief legal counsel for Shands HealthCare.

Charles McCluskey, executive director of LifeQuest, was removed because officials said they believed he had knowledge of Cardo's activities.

The two men, who have been on administrative leave from the OPO since the probe began, now have been informed "that their services will no longer be needed by Shands," the organization said in a statement. They remain on administrative leave from the University of Florida Medical School while it decides whether to fire them.

Assistant State Attorney Greg McMahon said he could not comment on possible criminal charges because an investigation is continuing. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also looking into the conflict of interest.

McCluskey said had no knowledge of Cardo's involvement.

"I have done nothing wrong. We feel the report is wrong," McCluskey told the Associated Press. "I did not know what he was up to."

Timothy Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare, said the investigation found that no suitable organs were denied to patients awaiting a transplant.

"Families who made the organ donation gift of life can be confident that transplantable organs were used appropriately to help other people," he said.

In 2001, LifeQuest received 423 organs from 103 donors. Of those, 323 were transplanted, 57 were discarded, 23 went to a company to remove heart valves and 20 went to research firms. Of those 20, 16 went to the Florida Research Foundation, according to Dr. Richard Howard, Shands Transplant Center medical director.

LifeQuest, one of five organ procurement organizations in Florida, is responsible for procuring kidneys, hearts, livers, lungs and pancreases from cadaver donors in north Florida. Over the years, it has had one of the highest organ procurement rates in the country.

Danielle Cornell has been named interim executive director for the Shands-based organ procurement organization.