Comments on: Did Hospital Kill Teen For His Organs?

Suit By His Parents Claims Harvesting Began Before He Was Dead; Hospital, Transplant Group Deny It

[CnUHerMeNow]

Interesting, that you would posit desperation on the part of the boy's parents to find any reason to explain why and how their sorrowful outcome came to be as the motivation for these parents' accusation, yet you quite blithely ignore the possibility that some other individual, couple, or group of employees would - in THEIR desperation to prevent a sorrowful outcome to THEIR particular story - prevent same by arranging for organ harvesting.
Posted by missingamerica at 5:24 AM : Mar 17, 2009

No I did not blithely ignore the possibility at all. I very clearly stated, "Ok. I'm not saying that it is impossible for this to happen. There are crooked and dishonest people in every field; the medical field included. However, I find it extremely hard to believe that this hospital would do this." When you chose to only quote a part of my statement, what were you trying to sound like, a selective snob? I posit that you have no idea what you are talking about. Find someone else to selectively quote you loon.

[sallyforth2]

Michael Jacobs shares an enlightened perspective, in this to be continued battle...If...a person has not signed up to be a donor, there should be no donation. No slight of hand or smoke over emotion should be administered by the self serving interests of the CORE or other suchlike organizations or individuals.
Like most other products sold for profit, we are a nation advertised by "the orange dot". If we have not, for some reason or other availed ourselves of its favor, then we should not be second guessed nor should our surviving fans be lobbied.
And, a final caveat...let us not continue to be soooooo flippin nieve as to think, as Maggie Rodriquez suggested in her comment to the Jacobs', that there isn't a market out there for body parts. Be it on the part of CORE, your local hospital administrations, thug "acquirers" in India, Africa, South America...and yes, Margaret Truman...right here in the US of A. This is a multi Billion dollar business and we had better be aware and prepared for the possibility that we may be the next ones to be faced with a similar scene.

[missingamerica]

I cannot imagine losing a child. I cannot fathom the depth of their grief, nor can I understand what they went through. I do know that people are desperate, desperate to change the outcome and look for anything, no matter how small, that could have changed things.

Posted by CnUHerMeNow at 5:16 AM : Mar 17, 2009

Interesting, that you would posit desperation on the part of the boy's parents to find any reason to explain why and how their sorrowful outcome came to be as the motivation for these parents' accusation, yet you quite blithely ignore the possibility that some other individual, couple, or group of employees would - in THEIR desperation to prevent a sorrowful outcome to THEIR particular story - prevent same by arranging for organ harvesting.

[CnUHerMeNow]

Ok. I'm not saying that it is impossible for this to happen. There are crooked and dishonest people in every field; the medical field included. However, I find it extremely hard to believe that this hospital would do this. There isn't just one person involved with organ donation and I know they do everything under the sun to do it right.

I cannot imagine losing a child. I cannot fathom the depth of their grief, nor can I understand what they went through. I do know that people are desperate, desperate to change the outcome and look for anything, no matter how small, that could have changed things. It is unconscionable to think the hospital would wheel in a young man with ANY hope of recovery to harvest organs. It is stories like this, unproven and speculative, that can eradicate hope for thousands on donor waiting lists. I hope this isn't the case. Organ donation is one of the greatest gifts you can give to another. I'd hate to see someone die because of this irresponsible story being aired.

[missingamerica]

'Maggie Rodriguez remarked to Michael and Teresa that many people would find it "preposterous" that a hospital would intentionally kill a young man for his organs.'

Uh-huh.

And once upon a time I - heck, the whole world - would have found the idea that a President (well, a vice-President and his supporting cast in PNAC) of the United States of America would lie and conceal the truth solely to force the nation to war on false pretenses - apparently just to manipulate oil prices and Big Oil's access to formerly restricted drilling areas as well as to provide a diversion for Israel's enemies.

If those people are any example - and given the heights they managed to climb to - then the nation is rife with evil people with sufficient wealth and support to have someone killed for their organs.

I do believe that I would want to know the net worth and connections of whoever got the boy's organs.

[sn0wbunnie4u]

Hello everyone-
First off I would like to offer my condolences and sympathy to the family which lost their loved one. However, as an ambassador for an organ procurement organization I feel the need to defend the position of being or becoming an organ or tissue donor. I am currently an ambassador and I teach the process of organ and tissue donation to high school students throughout southern California. I feel very passionately about this topic, as I have been personally touched by organ and tissue donation. Being an organ and tissue donor gives you the oppertunity to save or enhance over 50 lives if something should ever happen to you; this is an amazing oppertunity to bring happiness to many other lives and families.
In a previous comment an individual refered to the organ and tissue procurement agency as "vultures" due to them waiting around the hospital and persistently asking the family if they would like to donate their loved ones organs. "Vultures" is such a harsh name to call these workers whom I like to refer to as "angels" or "helpers." There is a limited amount of time which organs can remain still usable, these "helpers" are just trying to make sure that families have support in case of any questions they may have while making their decision.
I mentioned that I was personally touched by organ and tissue donation, and this is a shorter version of my story.... My grandfather, Paul, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. After 6 months on the waiting list he finally received his heart from an accidental gun shot victim. The gift of life which that donor gave my grandpa was not only a gift to him but to our entire family. The gift of life gave me an extra fifteen memorable years with my grandfather which was time for him to teach me how to drive, lecture me about the wonders of life, and much more.
There are many myths about being or becoming an organ or tissue donor and one of the most common myths is that doctors will not work as hard to save your life if you are a donor. This is false. Doctors are there to do everything in their power to save your life. Only if or when that fails does organ and tissue donation become an option.
I hope my insight into the process of organ and tissue donation, my experience, and my work as an ambassador helps others better understand what a gift it is to be able to save lives as an organ and tissue donor. Donate life.

[Ceres6]

Although it is very difficult for Gregory's parent to prove their point, it is very possible for a greedy doctor to commit such a despicable act, of allowing a young man to die because his organs can bring a huge amount of money in return. Just read the awful stories about what some doctors are doing to rip off medicare, and you will realize that people in the medical profession are not free from extreme greed.

[RNColorado]

This is a prime example of "Sensationalism" at its best. I was an Organ Transplant RN Coordinator for Pres./St.Lukes in Denver for over 5 years and have a personal knowledge of the procedures. There are very strict criteria for determining "brain death" and Organs would NEVER be retrieved if the criteria was NOT met and consents were not obtained. The father admits signing the consents for Organ Retrieval. This news media has now caused great harm to the people who are waiting on donor lists all over the nation. The donors are people who can no longer use their Organs as they have been declared brain dead. The patient or donor must be kept "alive" with machines with blood flowing through their body in order to preserve the integrity and function of the Organs so that they can be used by the recipients. For example if a patient is pronounced dead at the scene of a car accident the Organs cannot be used. They can sometimes use bone or skin for grafting. So...in this sense the young man was "alive" with a heartbeat, but brain dead. I was not there, however in my experience they need to do a series of EEG's which show brain activity or the lack thereof to indicate brain death. The heart of a young man can beat on indefinitely in brain death.
I am sorry for the parents loss, but they are grieving and this frivolous lawsuit is actually taking advantage of their grief and damaging the hospital and Organ Transplantation for all. The public will believe the NEWS MEDIA which is sad. People need to educate themselves regarding Organ retrieval and Organ transplant and make their own decisions. My Driver's License is signed and I am an Organ Donor! Don't believe everything you hear or read as FACT!
Check out these links:
http://www.donatelife.net/UnderstandingDonation/
http://www.transplants.org/AboutNFT.php
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VBF-4CJ45HN-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=f21880e42aeaa27b50de043ee34347e7
CBS should now have someone from Organ Transplant educate the public on the truth and give the same amount of air time!

[liz_422]

I can't believe you actually aired this story. It could potentially cost people their lives. If this actually happened the DA would prosecute-because it would be murder. By airing, you are highlighting all the fears that surround organ donation without balancing it with the realities.
It is a paradox-that one family's grief gives a new life to another family. And it doesn't seem fair-and I'm sure this family has a lot of guilt over losing a child. So I understand-why they are doing this. But-this is such irresponsible journalism. I can't watch your show. This is a very bad thing you have done. It is all sensation without any evidence other than a grieving family.

[AnnetteYoung]

My heart goes out to Michael and Teresa Jacobs. No parent ever thinks that this will happen to their child leaving them with having to make a life changing decision.
September 7, 1998 my husband and I were faced with the same thing, our 16 year old son was a passenger in a car and a single car crash in which 3 boys lost their lives that night and my son was left with TBI. He was on lift support and in a coma, the first week we were told that if he should ever wake up we had to face the fact he could be blind, deaf, never walk or function as a human, pretty much a veggie. We were devastated how could this have happened? Bottom line is we would not give up on our son and just kept hoping he would wake up, 3 weeks later he started to awake from his coma via drugs. Spent the next 4 months in the hospital and the following years in PT, OT, Speech.
I'm happy to say that he is Awesome, living on his own, finished High School, graduated College and went onto Cosmetology School graduated and passed his state board exam.
It's been a long 10 years for all, but one thing my husband and I promised each other was we would never give up on our son and stand by his side no matter what the out come is. Even today when I see him or just think about him I cry, it's the what if we would have pulled the plug 10 years ago, what if. I can't imagine my life without him, he has grown into the most caring, loving man and now has a wonderful girlfriend who loves him.
I think there needs to be more education on TBI it's not always a death sentence.

[myeyedea]

This topic is definitely charged w/ emotion on many sides. But I think what is getting expressed in many of these posts that isn't being heard loud enough, and was originally said in this article, is the testament to the pressure being put on family members to make their loved one a donor. Yes, time is short, sensitive and an issue for organ donation, but just like police interrogation methods, any type of constant, draining badgering until the interrogator or donation worker gets the answer s/he wants is just not acceptable. The Jacobs family may feel entirely different about their decision, even if the TOD notation was correct, if they hadn't felt pressured into making their son a donor. Even if the hospital acted prematurely (and I'm not saying that they did), the Jabobs family may feel that even then, they did what their son wanted and they don't regret that.

Any type of coercing of the family or person who can be responsible for making that choice is torture and should not be tolerated, and that should be reported on by the media so that it can be stopped. Because what follows when a person or family decides under unyielding, harrassing pressure to do something is almost unfailiingly a result of regret or doubt, if not in the moment, then later on - and that is in no way fair to the surviving members of the family to have to live with an intensly personal decision they are bound to for the rest of their lives and the doubt that they actually decided what was right for their family. All of the arguments as to what benefits that deceased person provdided to 2, 10 or 50 others mean nothing to mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, brothers, and sons that spend every day in tearful, agonizing regret for being talked into something they weren't sure was right. I am not saying that no one should be a donor; I am saying that no one should have the right, priviledge, entitlement or position to harrass or harrangue a family member or guardian into the decision to be one. The option should be made clear, and the family left alone to make its decision, and what is decided is what should be. Period.

It is imperative that each person think very seriously about being a donor, and whatever you decide TELL SOMEONE - tell the person or people who will be responsible for you if you cannot make your wishes known. If you're old enough to have a driver's liscense, then you need to think about this very important issue and TELL SOMEONE YOUR DECISION. If you're not old enough to drive, but you're reading these articles and comments, then it is important for you to absorb, at the very least, that you have a right to tell your parents or guardians what you wish. There is no right or wrong answer - you and your family are not selfish if you decide not to be a donor, and yes parts of yourself may provide life (or a better life) to others if you're willing to donate - IT IS YOUR CHOICE. There is no right or wrong. The only thing that makes this topic so much more excruciatingly difficult is exactly what the Jacobs said; his driver's liscence didn't say that he was a donor, and apparently they hadn't talked about it as a family. When the time came, they weren't sure what to do, and the pressure of the hospital personnel persuaded them to a decision. Any of us can alleviate our families, take care of our loved ones, by taking just 5 minutes tonight and clearly explaining what we would like to be done with our bodies in case of some tragedy. And yes, YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND, but if you do TELL SOMEONE.

[lovsn2012]

what a beautiful young man Greg was - I can only feel for the parents and the grief they must have - I thought however, that before a life-support tube is removed the hospital has to have parental consent...something seems strange

[Sue-Doughty]

As a liver recipient who is friends with my donor family, I would like to say that anyone with ANY knowledge of transplantation does NOT use the word "harvest." Crops are harvested, organs are recovered. Many comments made about this partiacular organ donation are absolutely false. Brain death is death. My sympathy goes to the grieving parents in the loss of a child, however the father signed consent. No loss is greater than the loss of a child. I do not believe that any procedure was broken. For the record, I am still an organ donor as is my entire family and all of my friends. Without the Gift of Life from my 43 year old donor, I would not be here to write this,

[russ727]

My son had a liver transplant at 8 years old he is now 18 and headed for collage next fall.
After watching this story I am at a total loss for words. How cbs could air this is inconceivable. I don't know how you can sleep at night. You have caused a lot of pain and death today .
Posted by spitfireguy

This is called news. News agencies report the news. That is their job.

No, it's not news. News would be reporting the outcome of the trial if it was found that there was wrongdoing. "Reporting" what a plaintiff alledges does harm to the entire society with no redeeming value. This interview undoubtedly killed a few people and helped no one.

[trudihall]

As the mother of 6 beloved children, my heart goes out to this couple. On the other hand,, my heart also goes out to the parents of the thousands of children dying on donor lists because family members are too ill informed to donate the organs of their brain dead loved ones. I am quite familiar with the whole donation process, and know of the many layers of protocol in place to protect patients and ensure that organs are only harvested after brain death (not to be confused with heart death).

Only four weeks ago, I underwent surgery to donate a kidney to a person from my Church. I felt it was a great privalege to be able to do so. So many of us are cognizant about wasting our resources....I believe that burying healthy organs in a cemetary is the ultimate in waste.

Trudi Hall
Kidney Donor

[jezziebelle6]

Part 3

The majority of transplant procurements do not take place in the transplant facility for even one organ, much less multiple organs harvested. From the time of declaration and gifting to the OR for harvest many hours may pass. There are many procedures that take place to determine donor suitability. None of these procedures is or would be fatal to the donor if not already dead. The time span may encompass more than one shift of multiple personnel. Are we to believe that none of these would object to murder? Are we to believe all these highly trained people are either stupid or willing to condone murder? When the organ procurement charges that eventually reach the payer are a few hundred thousand for ALL the organs harvested, do you really think that is enough to buy the cooperation of HUNDREDS of personnel up to that point? Get real and get a grip folks. Organ donation and transplantation is cheaper than the cost of treating the illnesses and injuries for which they are performed. Donation is a selfless act by many that not much else can equal. I just wish that I had read one comment from the conspiracy theorists that decried ACCEPTING an organ for themselves, a child, spouse, parent or sibling with the same vehemence that donating an organ has been flamed.

[jezziebelle6]

Part 2

In addition to the bedside and personal experiences I have with organ donation and procurement, I now work in the payer industry. Much of my work is with transplant patients. I know how the donation system works and how costs are generated and reimbursed. I could fill as many pages on this comment board attempting to educate regarding all these processes. As far as the physical process, to begin to believe that murder for profit occurs, one would have to believe that many personnel from nurses to respiratory therapists to multiple technicians to surgeons at multiple institutions would have to benefit from such nefarious activity in order for it to occur and be profitable is again, absurd. Considering that the entire cost of an average kidney transplant (including organ procurement) is less than 3-6 months of dialysis, murder for a kidney doesn't make much sense. Given the cost of Peginton, Pegasys, ribavirin, varcie banding and hospitalizations, murder for a liver doesn't make much sense. Given the cost of inotropic drugs, hospitalizations, left ventricular assist devices, murder for a heart doesn't make much sense. Transplant facilities must keep rigorous records of the cost of organ acquisition and those costs are passed through to the payer without profit. So, all the conspiracy theorists would have people believe that everyone from the lowly bedside nurse to the surgeons to the insurer/payers are profiting from organ donation. Otherwise it couldn't occur?someone that didn't have a greased palm would blow the whistle don't you think? If the grease doesn't come from the ultimate payer?the insurers?then where does it come from? I can promise my family and none I ever dealt with had the money to grease palms under the table.

[jezziebelle6]

Part 1

I simply cannot believe the number of people willing to believe that hospitals and doctors kill patients for organs. Such a conspiracy theory is worthy of the likes of Steven King and Hollywood. The fear and discontent that causes it is absurd. I have cared for patients (and their families) from the time of admit prior to brain death, through the brain death declaration and gifting process, the procurement phase up to taking the donor for the actual harvest, and then sat with families beyond that point. I have a beautiful, vivacious thirteen-year-old niece alive past the age of 18 months only because of the unfounded generosity of these families. Donor families do so for many reasons but mainly out of love for others and a hope that the senseless death of a loved one can have some meaning and value. To turn that into a conspiracy theory of murder and profit is beyond comprehension to me. I truly feel for this family as I have experienced the effects such a loss has upon families many times. I am privileged to have been a part of these families giving as well as to experience it every time I look at my niece. These comments sicken me and offend every donor and donor family that has made that generous gift as well as every recipient alive and well because of those gifts. This family is included in that gratitude and I sincerely hope that they can get beyond the grief and guilt to realize what a wonderful gift they gave.

[savedbyatransplant]

I am so sorry for their loss. They have done a difficult thing, by letting their son go, while trying to do the right thing by giving others life. For anyone that has lost a family member while waiting for an organ donation, the anguish the family endures is beyond belief. Those families are forever in their debt for giving them another lease on life. Do not for one minute think that their son would not have wanted them to save others. Please do not set back organ donation to the stone ages. Suing the hospital and CORE will not bring your son back or take away your guilt. You need to forgive yourselves for giving life for those that would not have had a chance. Would like to hear from the otherside.

[Libertybelle1961]

Oh Dear God in Heaven, I hope not but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. 28 years ago my mother and sister were in a car accident. My mother was crushed to death instantly, My little sister had what is now commonly called "TBI" Traumatic Brain Injury. Supposedy clinically brain dead and on a ventilator- family members, hospital personal/physicians, etc...kept urging my father on to make one of the most difficult decisions-to disconnect and donate or not to do it. He (we) chose not to! Our beliefs held that we came into this world with these organs and we should be allowed to leave with them. Not only that, my dad (and my big sister and myself) were holding out all hope that there would be a miracle. If we took her organs and gave them away-there was no chance for a miracle. Sadly she died (still on the ventilator)-but not w/out a lot of people making us feel bad for not "allowing her to live on in another" that's the phrase they used. They (hospital personal, organ procurment team etc...) use all the pressure tacts (in their repitore) to prey on family at their darkest hour/and weakest moments (keeping vigil over a beloved family member). In their darkest times, they keep on and keep on until they wear devistated family members into signing on the dotted line, just like trading in the used car; but this time you don't take anything but a plastic bag of personal effects home with you. I think if a family says "NO" just once then that's it-if they change their minds it's their decision regardless. If the victim has a donor card-ok, that's their wish-otherwise....leave the family's decision stand! I hope "NO" still means "N-O". Don't you???????