Aa
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/michael-yocabet-hepatitis-kidney-transplant_n_973751.html
Anyone else see this article on the Huffington Post? The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center transplanted an HCV infected kidney into an uninfected patient. The donor (wife) had tested positive for HCV before transplantation. Problem is they forgot to mention this to the donor or the kidney patient (husband) until after the transplant was done. Then to add insult to injury the staff asked the donor if she had ever cheated on her husband. Unbelievable.
Bad enough what happened here but I'm wondering, Is it a journalist responsibility to research a subject when reporting on it or are they only bound to report what actually happened and what was said? Wouldn't have been wonderful if the reporter had concluded the report with a brief but accurate synopsis of HCV and how it's transmitted than to further spread ignorance that HCV is a STD?
Anyone else see this article on the Huffington Post? The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center transplanted an HCV infected kidney into an uninfected patient. The donor (wife) had tested positive for HCV before transplantation. Problem is they forgot to mention this to the donor or the kidney patient (husband) until after the transplant was done. Then to add insult to injury the staff asked the donor if she had ever cheated on her husband. Unbelievable.
Bad enough what happened here but I'm wondering, Is it a journalist responsibility to research a subject when reporting on it or are they only bound to report what actually happened and what was said? Wouldn't have been wonderful if the reporter had concluded the report with a brief but accurate synopsis of HCV and how it's transmitted than to further spread ignorance that HCV is a STD?
"Even smart people can be wrong Frank. I was wrong once myself."
That seems unlikely. You're probably mistaken.
That seems unlikely. You're probably mistaken.
my mistake Mike,
It wasnt Starzl... I am sure by the time I got into the program Starzl wasnt seeing the average patients (I wasnt in any program for surgery).
Sorry for the confusion, the doc I saw was nothing like Starzl, I am sure.
frank
It wasnt Starzl... I am sure by the time I got into the program Starzl wasnt seeing the average patients (I wasnt in any program for surgery).
Sorry for the confusion, the doc I saw was nothing like Starzl, I am sure.
frank
Gee, I saw him my second day and found him quite gracious. He wasn't practicing surgery at that time so he wasn't my surgeon but he took an interest.
Go figure.
Even smart people can be wrong Frank. I was wrong once myself.
I'm sorry that your experience was bad but if you are suggesting that Starzl wasn't an expert in liver disease and transplantation then I respectfully disagree.
If not him then who?
Mike
Go figure.
Even smart people can be wrong Frank. I was wrong once myself.
I'm sorry that your experience was bad but if you are suggesting that Starzl wasn't an expert in liver disease and transplantation then I respectfully disagree.
If not him then who?
Mike
Yes Mike, this is the very place that I treated (I went to the University of Pittsburgh as an undergrad (not in the med field but in the self-design film studies field).
When I started getting sicker and sicker after being "cured" and a few years passed... and I finally got a decent local doc... who kinda knew what was going on... well, he knew the big guy at UPMC.
They actually call him the "Liver Guru" down there... what a joke!!! I wrote a bit about it before. Took six months before I could see his nurse (was suppose to be six more months before I saw him but...) when I went thru my list of complaints she was sooooo upset about my issues that she ran down to see if she could catch the Liver Guru and get him to see me immediately but he was off to a class.
She bumped another poor soul and got me an earlier appt... The Guru was sure that my anemia was due to internal bleeding. I bet Him $5 it wasnt but he wouldnt even take the bet! and forced me into a double scope. That was a horrible day! And I was correct and the Guru was wrong.
A couple years later I learned that I have low level anemia.
Sometime these specialist just become so full of themselves they cant see the human in front of them.
When I started getting sicker and sicker after being "cured" and a few years passed... and I finally got a decent local doc... who kinda knew what was going on... well, he knew the big guy at UPMC.
They actually call him the "Liver Guru" down there... what a joke!!! I wrote a bit about it before. Took six months before I could see his nurse (was suppose to be six more months before I saw him but...) when I went thru my list of complaints she was sooooo upset about my issues that she ran down to see if she could catch the Liver Guru and get him to see me immediately but he was off to a class.
She bumped another poor soul and got me an earlier appt... The Guru was sure that my anemia was due to internal bleeding. I bet Him $5 it wasnt but he wouldnt even take the bet! and forced me into a double scope. That was a horrible day! And I was correct and the Guru was wrong.
A couple years later I learned that I have low level anemia.
Sometime these specialist just become so full of themselves they cant see the human in front of them.
I've been svr for five years now I guess. It's odd maybe but though I feel like I've moved on, all it takes is a tid bit on the news, a Dr. Oz, a newspaper article or even a television show spewing ignorance about this disease. Then in a moment I go from grown up, confident, reasonably intelligent woman to feeling like a helpless school girl on a playground being bullied. I run right back here, feeling like a sobbing child looking for the support of friends to wipe my tears away. So, thank you Willy and Mike. I read your comments and I felt like a big girl again. I've begun searching every news story I can find on this tragedy. Wherever I find ignorant, nasty comments I intend to correct the record. ; ]
Unbelievable James. I can only imagine how that makes you feel remembering.
Ls
Unbelievable James. I can only imagine how that makes you feel remembering.
Ls
When my Doc told me I had HCV, he asked me if I was ever with a prostitute ! Talk about wanting to slap someone. At the time I knew nothing about HCV. No knowing what I know I really feel like writing him and telling him what's up. He was the doc that diagnosed it upon my demand that he run blood tests because I was fatigued, liver was stage 3. Still makes me angry on many levels.
Liver transplantation was pioneered at that same hospital.
Thomas Starzl headed the transplant program for many years and he performed the first human liver transplant. He is a bona fide genius.
It was he who developed Tacrolimus which may be the most commonly used immunosuppressive drug today.
What happened there is terrible and unconscionable and it is not the only recent issue with that facility. There was also a problem with living donor criteria and hopefully that got straightened out.
What occurred with this HCV donor is outrageous and I have trouble understanding how it happened. It's bizarre.
Mike
Thomas Starzl headed the transplant program for many years and he performed the first human liver transplant. He is a bona fide genius.
It was he who developed Tacrolimus which may be the most commonly used immunosuppressive drug today.
What happened there is terrible and unconscionable and it is not the only recent issue with that facility. There was also a problem with living donor criteria and hopefully that got straightened out.
What occurred with this HCV donor is outrageous and I have trouble understanding how it happened. It's bizarre.
Mike
Well...... I read this mostly because you posted it. It is one hell of a story.
Not only does the hospital repeatedly mess up, but when they finally wake up and read the medical records, how do they respond?
....By attempting to stigmatize the kidney donor, suggesting that they were a drug user or a loose woman. How many times have I heard this one? The very first thing they go for is past drug use. This is also not the first time that I've heard a "medical professional" inquire whether the infected party could have gotten it through cheating, being sexually indiscreet.
They offered to keep the secret for the woman after basically impugning her character. What they were hoping was that their own incompetence was going to be protected.
My question is how many people.....medical professionals overlooked this bungled transplant? Even in 2011 it amazes me that this can happen?!! How many of us were infected due the same level of medical incompetence but back before there were number of protective protocols they are now?
Great article, but a very sad commentary on human nature, "medical professionals", and the safety of hospitals.
willy
Not only does the hospital repeatedly mess up, but when they finally wake up and read the medical records, how do they respond?
....By attempting to stigmatize the kidney donor, suggesting that they were a drug user or a loose woman. How many times have I heard this one? The very first thing they go for is past drug use. This is also not the first time that I've heard a "medical professional" inquire whether the infected party could have gotten it through cheating, being sexually indiscreet.
They offered to keep the secret for the woman after basically impugning her character. What they were hoping was that their own incompetence was going to be protected.
My question is how many people.....medical professionals overlooked this bungled transplant? Even in 2011 it amazes me that this can happen?!! How many of us were infected due the same level of medical incompetence but back before there were number of protective protocols they are now?
Great article, but a very sad commentary on human nature, "medical professionals", and the safety of hospitals.
willy
Yes James, The article clearly states that it was the hospital staff who asked the question regarding this woman's sexual habits. I found this appalling, adding insult to injury after what happened to this couple. I s'pose after expressing my shock at the whole story I had a an uneasy feeling about what was left unsaid. Yes, the article did go on to state other means of transmission, but I didn't see, in defense of this poor woman, sexual transmission disputed. I'd guess by some of the comments on the story, the staff asking about this woman's sexual habits only perpetuated the ignorance regarding this disease. But, perhaps you are right James. Just the facts Jack. Happens every day.
The reporters job is to report what happened. The article goes on to say that the disease is spread through needle sharing and reports what the Mayo clinic says about the disease. Seems to me like the hospital brought up the sexual contraction issue.
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