| News From Transplant Week of May 12, 2002 / Vol. 3 No. 19 |
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NY Orders Transplant Council to Review Living-Donor Procedures |
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New York State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello has ordered the state Transplant Council to review procedures for living-donor liver transplants, focusing in particular on the the issue of informed consent -- the extent to which the donor knows and understands the risks of the decision. Novello's directive follows the January death of Michael Hurewitz, 57, who donated 60 percent of his liver to his brother three days earlier at Mount Sinai Hospital (see earlier Medical Week story). The Transplant Council's newly formed subcommittee to review living-donor liver transplants -- made up of doctors from New York and other states, transplant recipients, representatives of the five New York hospitals that have living liver transplant programs, and a bioethicist -- will hold its first meeting June 12th in Albany. Novello directed the Transplant Council to make recommendations for changes in procedures within six months. Meanwhile, a Health Department spokesperson said that since it launched its investigation of Mount Sinai in March, it has received 96 complaints about patient care and services at the hospital -- including 73 about the transplant unit. The Health
Department also said that at its request, the chief transplant
surgeon at Mount Sinai, Dr. Charles Miller, has resigned as chair
of the state Task Force to Increase Organ and Tissue Donation. Other sources: New York Health Department, Albany Times Union |
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