Ruben Navarro, a 25-year-old who suffered a nerve disease for most of his life, died at the beginning of February while in the operating room at a San Luis Obispo, California hospital. In a criminal complaint against Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, prosecutors allege Navarro’s death was hastened by a mix of sedatives usually given to dying patients.
What does not seem to be at issue is that Navarro was dying. However, Dr. Roozrokh, a transplant surgeon, is accused of hastening Navarro’s death by telling the nurses to give him a mix of morphine and Ativan, a sedative. Dr. Roozrokh is also accused of injecting a topical antiseptic called Betadine into the feeding tube of Navarro. On top of that, others in the transplant profession are wondering why Roozrokh was even in the operating room while Navarro was still alive. According to Thomas Mone, president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organization, standard practice is “for the surgeon to be outside the operating room until death has been declared.”
Consequences
The 34-year-old Dr. Roozrokh, who was trained at Stanford, faces up to eight years if he is convicted. He, of course, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney states the doctor did not mean to hasten Navarro’s death. A gag order has been imposed, making any further statements unlikely for the time being.
This case does not just affect the Navarro family, Dr. Roozrokh, and the hospital, but may also affect the way people look at the donor process. Goran Klintmalm, president for the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, worries that the case will be sensationalized by the media, decreasing organ donations, and keeping patients on the transplant wait list that much longer.
Ruben Navarro’s mother has filed lawsuits against Dr. Roozrokh and the hospital. The hospital has already settled, but has denied liability. The hospital claims they settled “in an effort to put this incident behind [them] and to hopefully allow [Mrs. Navarro’s] healing process to begin.”
And in perhaps the saddest part of the case, Ruben Navarro’s organs could not be used because they were no longer viable after his eight hour ordeal.
Though this case will perhaps give those who want to donate their organs pause, and make those on the transplant list worry about a lengthened wait, we need to believe that an overwhelming majority of transplant surgeons are good people. We need to believe that hospitals will do everything they can to heal us, or make our suffering as little as possible. While Ruben Navarro was suffering from his disease, adding what his mother sees as a death “without respect and dignity” is beyond the pale.
If you, or a loved one, have been party to a hospital’s negligence resulting in the death of someone close to you, you may have reason to file a wrongful death suit. Please contact an experienced injury lawyer in your area to help guide you through this difficult process.
