Doc Accused Of Hastening Death For Organs

Lawyer Denies Charges Calif. Dr. Gave Patient Excessive Drugs

(CBS/AP)  The lawyer for a surgeon charged with prescribing excessive drugs to a disabled patient to speed up his death and harvest his organs says his client has been the subject of a "witch hunt."

Prosecutors in San Luis Obispo County said Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, 33, of San Francisco, gave a harmful drug and prescribed excessive doses of morphine and a sedative to 25-year-old Ruben Navarro, who died in 2006.

Prosecutors and a lawyer for Navarro's family contend Roozrokh told hospital staff, "Let's give him more candy," when referring to the drugs, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes.

Roozrokh was charged Monday in the first such criminal case against a transplant doctor in the U.S., the county district attorney's office said.

M. Gerald Schwartzbach, Roozrokh's lawyer, called the charges "unfounded and ill-advised," saying his client "has unfairly been the subject of an 18-month witch hunt."

"Nothing that Dr. Roozrokh did or said at the hospital that night adversely affected the quality of Mr. Navarro's life or contributed to Mr. Navarro's eventual death," Schwartzbach said in a statement.

Roozrokh planned to surrender and post $10,000 bail, Schwartzbach said.

Navarro was taken in a coma to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center, 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, in 2006 after suffering respiratory and cardiac arrest. Although Navarro was found to have irreversible brain damage and was kept on a respirator, he was not considered brain dead because he still had limited brain function.

The day before Navarro died, his family gave approval for a surgical team to recover his organs for donation. That didn't happen, however, because Navarro didn't die within 30 minutes of being removed from life support. He died a day later.

Roozrokh, a surgeon at Kaiser Permanente's now-closed kidney transplant program, was working at the time on behalf of a group that procures and distributes organs.

David Merlin, the former head of that program blew the whistle on mismanagement there.

"There is very little oversight of transplant programs in the United States," Merlin told Hughes.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the drugs were prescribed "to accelerate Mr. Navarro's death in order to recover his organs."

State law prohibits transplant surgeons from being involved in the treatment of potential organ donors before they are declared dead.

Prosecutors did not pursue murder charges because witnesses said they did not believe the drugs caused Navarro's death.

The coroner's office this year determined Navarro died of natural causes. Last month, his mother, Rosa, filed a wrongful-death and medical malpractice lawsuit against Roozrokh and others, claiming her son was removed from life support without her permission and given lethal doses of drugs.

"There was no consent to inject him with lethal doses or morphine and Atavin, and no legal consent to take his organs in the first place," Kevin Chaffin, lawyer for Rosa Navarro, told Hughes.

Navarro, who weighed about 80 pounds, was born with a neurological disorder known as adrenoleukodystrophy. He also had cerebral palsy and seizures.

Roozrokh was charged with felony counts of dependent adult abuse, administering a harmful substance and unlawful controlled substance prescription. If convicted of all three counts, he faces up to eight years in state prison or up to one year in jail and a $20,000 fine as a condition of probation.

[harp1963]

He must have been a Republican.

[agnim]

"Dr. Accused Of Hastening Death For Organs"

Isn't this sort of devilish behavior be expected once we open the door to legalizing CANNIBALISM?

To consume human body parts BY ANY MEANS is CANNIBALISM!
It's primitive beast behavior and should never be allowed in the first place.

[tucano2]

This is not news. Everyone knows money rules M.D.'s and some physicians, too.

[michellem99-2009]

Just goes to to prove there are BAD docs. Where were they that was s'pose look out for this abuse.

[iceman_1960]

Remember that old film "Coma" ?

This was the plot.

[iceman_1960]

It's a good thing they didn't send D*ick Cheney to this doctor the other day.

Or Bush for his colonoscopy.

You woundn't want Hootan rootin' around in there.

[kennergirl]

I know hospitals make some terrible mistakes but how does not only the hospital takes this guy off life support (which his mother says wasn't okayed) but the "Transplant" Dr. orders these megadoses of medication before he died? Who was his physician? Why was another doctor allowed to do this without getting it okayed through Mr. Navarro's doctor? That is what I'd be curious to hear about.

[cyinzl8r]

you people have some nerve sitting behind your crumb encrusted keyboards passing judgment on people you don't know using so called facts from a hack news agency. hopefully you'll be judged more fairly when your time comes.

[starleo146]

It's a good thing they didn't send D*ick Cheney to this doctor the other day.
Or Bush for his colonoscopy.
You woundn't want Hootan rootin' around in there Posted by Iceman_1960 at 10:04 PM : Jul 30, 2007

Iceman_1960 LOL

[genesauto]

What's that oath all graduating doctors must take? Hippocrates. That's the one. Basically it says "Do no harm".
These days, an oath is nothing more to some folks than a pre-written sentence they must say, (but not necessarily abide by)in order to become an official "Doctor".
An oath such as Hippocrates hasn't been abided by during the last 25 or so years by many alleged doctors.
When a "doctor" causes someones death for self advancement or for profit in any way, shape, or form, I think they should be prosecuted by law as any sleazebag that cuts a persons' throat in order to rob them.
The Hippocrates oath used to be something like the priests' took to swear allegience to God and to remain celebit. We all know what happened to "that" oath.
When the sworn oath has been forsaken by these alleged doctors and priests, the law of the land must take over and prosecute them as we prosecute the scum of the land.
I'd like some feed back.

[randalds]

It's a good thing they didn't send D*ick Cheney to this doctor the other day.

Or Bush for his colonoscopy.

You woundn't want Hootan rootin' around in there.

Posted by Iceman_1960 at 10:04 PM : Jul 30, 2007

Oh yes I would!

Hey DI*CK! I have referral to a new doctor for you!!! Trust me!

[agnim]

"Dr. Accused Of Hastening Death For Organs"

"Hastening death"?

*** is that?

Isn't that a piece of deception, a euphemism for KILLED for Organs!

Who for sure knows the alloted time of death of anyone, unless one is a MURDERER?

[shanev137]

Navarro was brain dead and didn't die in time for his organs to be harvested. What am I missing?

[mahdeealoo]

Funny, the human body is worth much more dead than alive. I've heard about doctors hastening death to harvest organs several years ago.

Because of that, my body will be creamated whole, no incisions, no removal of anything. That way, my family will know that I died in peace, if it is in a hospital.

non organ donor

[randalds]

Because of that, my body will be creamated whole, no incisions, no removal of anything. That way, my family will know that I died in peace, if it is in a hospital.

non organ donor
Posted by mahdeealoo at 12:23 AM : Jul 31, 2007

I'm donating everything. Heart, eyes, kidneys, whatever they can use. After that I want to be cremated, have a military memorial (with a REAL bugle player, not a dam*n recording!) and then have my ashes in an urn on the mantelpiece so I can still bug the wife after I'm gone

;-)

[rhs648]

I'm donating everything. Heart, eyes, kidneys, whatever they can use. After that I want to be cremated, have a military memorial (with a REAL bugle player, not a dam*n recording!) and then have my ashes in an urn on the mantelpiece so I can still bug the wife after I'm gone
;-)
Posted by RandalDS

Randall1DS-Your spiritualism for a non-believer in God is surprising. Why bother with a military memorial, a bugler, and ashes in the urn. Does this type of funeral hint of an afterlife? Why not burial in the backyard without the military memorial, the bugler, and the urn? That way, you save the goverment and/or your family money.

[rhs648]

I know hospitals make some terrible mistakes but how does not only the hospital takes this guy off life support (which his mother says wasn't okayed) but the "Transplant" Dr. orders these megadoses of medication before he died? Who was his physician? Why was another doctor allowed to do this without getting it okayed through Mr. Navarro's doctor? That is what I'd be curious to hear about.

Posted by kennergirl

Kennergirl-Patients undergo many procedures by many different people in hospitals. There are emergency room doctors, attending physicians, residents, technicians, nurses, etc. taking care of patients. When I viewed my deceased father at the hospital, he had tubes in his throat. I assumed that the tubes were used to try and save his life. Not long after my fathers death, I read in the newspaper how residents and students practive inserting tubes on deceased patients without the family's permission. To this day, I wonder whether the tubes were used to prevent my fathers death or for practice by residents or students. I'm sure we would be shocked at some of the things thaty go on in hospitals.

[rhs648]

Corrected

I know hospitals make some terrible mistakes but how does not only the hospital takes this guy off life support (which his mother says wasn't okayed) but the "Transplant" Dr. orders these megadoses of medication before he died? Who was his physician? Why was another doctor allowed to do this without getting it okayed through Mr. Navarro's doctor? That is what I'd be curious to hear about.

Posted by kennergirl

Kennergirl-Patients undergo many procedures by many different people in hospitals. There are emergency room doctors, attending physicians, residents, technicians, nurses, etc. taking care of patients. When I viewed my deceased father at the hospital, he had tubes in his throat. I assumed that the tubes were used to try and save his life. Not long after my fathers death, I read in the newspaper how residents and students practive inserting tubes on deceased patients without the family's permission. To this day, I wonder whether the tubes were used to prevent my fathers death or for practice by residents or students. I'm sure we would be shocked at some of the things that go on in hospitals.

[randalds]

Randall1DS-Your spiritualism for a non-believer in God is surprising. Why bother with a military memorial, a bugler, and ashes in the urn. Does this type of funeral hint of an afterlife? Why not burial in the backyard without the military memorial, the bugler, and the urn? That way, you save the goverment and/or your family money.
Posted by rhs648 at 12:48 AM : Jul 31, 2007

Ahhh but I'll be dead, so I won't care about the money. I don't want the ceremony for myself. I want it because it's one of my veteran benefits and it's one that they won't get away with scr*ewing me out of.

;-)

[incog-nito]

I'm all for organ donation. In fact, I will wholeheartedly agree to donate my brain for transplantation after my death.

[brianbwb-2009]

I wonder if the recipient was fully insured, and the donor wasn't...

[vancouverboo]

A good reason not to be an organ donator.

[johnshaft4]

Typical Republican "compassionate conservatism" for cash...

[carolrhill]

These kinds of things that doctors do just does not help at all. I hope that he will be charged with MURDE IN THE FIRST DEGREE.
We give our lives to these doctors and look what they could do in a heart beat.
I will donate all of my organs when I die that will not change but it is scarey to see these kinds of stories it makes all doctors look bad sad to say it just does.
This does not help people who are dying because there are not enough people out there that will donate their organs.
Why do some doctors do these kinds of things? The answer is because they can and sometimes get away with it.
Thank GOD that they stopped this man from killing more innocent people.
GOD BLESS ALL THE FAMILIES THAT WERE EFFECTED BY THIS HORRIBLE DOCTOR.

[rushlimpdrug]

Hey, what's my doctor's picture doing in this article.
Guess I better read what he is up to today before I go in for surgery this afternoon.

[drivelphobe]

Americans should boycott foreign doctors. Why would any American allow an Iranian physician to touch him? These people hate us and will use any opportunity to kill us. Imagine how a muslim physician must laugh to himself when an American patient comes to him. Now we are paying him to kill us and it's all legal. Wise up Americans and send these State subsidizedd foreign physicians packing. Vote for American medical care by refusing care from foreign doctors.

[incog-nito]

I'm willing to donate my brain for transplantation after my death.

[usatheway98]

The Dems - and our own - dumming down of America.

I don't have an exact number, but I'd daresay over half of the doctors in any HMO organization today are foreign born, barely speak English, barely citizens. Some are exceptional talents, the rest???

It's the same with Hollywood. The dearth of talented, educated actors makes a mockery of the Stewarts, the Waynes, the Gables, the Haywards, the Douglases, even Marilyn and so many other classic stars. George Clooney barely graduated high school, and shows it in every film he's been in - ditto for Pitt, Spears, Jolie, Lohan and so many other idiots who are paid megabucks.

The thought of an Anglo-Irishman, Liam Neesom playing Abraham Lincoln should give us all pause. If only Sam Waterston was about 25-30 years younger he should have had the part.

We have chosen to be a "dumb" society, glorifying losers and wasted idiots. Unfortunately it is the same with our health care, with our customer service, and exactly what the ILLEGAL hiree Pelosi wants of us -
It's diversity - and while there's nothing wrong with the concept - it is diversity with a vengeance.

We need to screen our doctors and health care system - we need to rid Hollyweird of trash and start cultivating real classic stars again who can be role models. We need an America where people are proud of their education and their art, and are willing to do the trench jobs. If not, it is at our own peril.

[formrusmcsgt]

Americans should boycott foreign doctors. Why would any American allow an Iranian physician to touch him? These people hate us and will use any opportunity to kill us. Imagine how a muslim physician must laugh to himself when an American patient comes to him. Now we are paying him to kill us and it's all legal. Wise up Americans and send these State subsidizedd foreign physicians packing. Vote for American medical care by refusing care from foreign doctors.
Posted by drivelphobe at 10:47 AM : Jul 31, 2007

If you were in a major auto accident and a foreign-born doctor passing by was your only chance for survival, I think your attitude might change a bit.....

[mrseverett-2009]

Cannabalism? Are you insane? Organ donors save many lives and the alleged actions of one doctor does not do the extensive good organ donations accomplish. As for 'foriegn doctors' my OB is Indian and saved the life of my unborn child during an emergency C section. It's not where you are born that matters, it's how you live.

[wadyaknow]

"The thought of an Anglo-Irishman, Liam Neesom playing Abraham Lincoln should give us all pause. If only Sam Waterston was about 25-30 years younger he should have had the part."


Gee - the best Lincoln was Raymond Massey and he was Canadian! Yeah we need real actors like Ronald reagan who was so good that people actually fell for his lies.

[swwils]

This guy playing God,makes you wonder how many other times he has done this.

[brianbwb-2009]

If I could stipulate that my organs would only go the poor, I'd consider it, but somehow I don't think my request would be honored...

[wadyaknow]

Maybe if Bush didn't play God we would have full stem-cell research and this young man could have been cured.

[mrseverett-2009]

So rich people should die of kidney failure to make your point. Interesting.
Anyway, I think the point is not should we give up our organs to others, but did this doctor kill someone to harvest organs from someone who probably didn't have the best health in the first place. Who would want these organs? The guy was 80 pounds and did not have the strength to exercise. Why would this doctor kill for those organs? Just a thought.

[drivelphobe]

formrusmcsgt......

If you were dying of thirst, you might take a sip of urine. Does that change your mind about keeping a bottle of urine in your ice chest for a refreshing drink? I might be forced to take the emergency treatment, but it wouldn't change my mind about foreign doctors at all.

[goamerica]

The problem with news stories today is that nobody is actually "reporting" -- i.e. interviewing people, trying to set logical parameters around a story, "educating" the reader to the "whole" story. Because Americans in general are also too lazy to actually demand access to the facts, or to do a little research on their own, we are stuck with what the media tells us. Case in point: I recently saw a presentation being made to an audience largely comprised of MDs by an MD (an MD and ethical specialist, actually) who was "anti-Korvorkian." At one point in his presentation he said, "you know, we've ALL pumped up the morphine at one time or another." Doesn't it make you wonder how often this actually goes on?

[Marjorum]

Why do people judge others and make accusations without knowing the full details of a situation? It appears to me that the only thing this doctor is guilty of is failure to thoroughly explain to the family what would happen when the respirator was removed. There is only one reason the Donor Network would be activated for a 26-year old and that is if death is imminent. When the patient did not die immediately, the doctor was faced with the situation of keeping the patient comfortable until he did die. (Typical hospice medicine.) Is the family now feeling guilty because of the removal of life support and thought they could get some money from the doctor? For shame!! Congratulations to the doctor for handling this case in the same manner as hundreds of others every month in the United States.

[dylanxxv]

The guy was pretty much dead already and he was not going to pull out of it, so leave the Doctor alone...
And the mother suing? She is crazy insane for money...That is a frivolous lawsuit and she should be b itch slapped and fined very heavily for wasting the courts time...

[random_radar]

Okay, so they took him off life support so he would die, and that is not murder. But prescribing drugs to hasten his death once he is off life support is murder? I just don't follow the logic...

[sunseeker6]

Sounds like the Doctor did nothing wrong. The man was going to die anyway, why let him suffer longer. Let him go to God. The Mother just wants money and 15 minutes of fame. By the way Wadyaknow, stem cell research is happening. The Federal Government is just not funding embryonic stem cell research. And finally, the Democrats also have good liars, there's all the Kennedy's (John, Robert, Ted, Patrick, etc), the Clintons (remember Whitewater and insider trading), just to name a few.

[mrseverett-2009]

After my father was had cancer surgery and the doctors knew he was near death, huge amounts of morphine was given to him. For the first time in years, I saw peace on his face and he died holding my mother's hand. I don't know if the drugs made his death faster, but at that point it helped make his life better. Would this be getting the venomous comments from some people on this forum if it had been a doctor named Jones or Smith.

[gunshack1]

Sounds like palliative care to me. Have all the prosecutting attorneys in this country gone nuts?

[cdfoxtrot]

This is the kind of thing that makes people nervous about signing up to be an organ donor.

[hissteps4u]

Morphine does indeed hasten death and decreases respirations and suppress them thus hastening death. Its the Most common drug used for such things as well as its derivatives like Roxanol most often used by Nursing homes along with Ativan for anxiety.

Its a peaceful way to end ones life pain free but to abuse it is wrong and if the DR did this out of abuse he needs to be held accountable.

As a retired Nurse with Hospice I have not seen DR's abuse such drugs and would have reported it had i seen such we are First Responders and Mandatory Reporters of such things.

[mrseverett-2009]

well in our case the morphine was not abusive, but I can understand that some doctors are only interested in the end result be it a transplant or just one less patient to worry about. The point of this case seems to be did he kill someone for organs, but people are using it as an excuse to make racial judgements on doctors they don't even know. I agree with goAmerica that we as people need to educate ourselves because the media is not going to give us the entire story.

[incog-nito]

"The Dems - and our own - dumming down of America."

Posted by usatheway98 at 11:04 AM : Jul 31, 2007

Once again political hatred by the right is blinding them from the facts. Where I work over half the doctors are from India, and many from China. Same story in the technology department. Do you know why? No, it's not the "Dems". It's the U.S. CORPORATIONS that you glamorize, that import them from abroad because they are cheaper than American workers. So try to do some thinking before posting idiotic comments with no basis on reality whatsoever.

[mrseverett-2009]

Greenwood, July 20: For years, doctors recruited from India, the Philippines and sub-Saharan Africa helped offset the dearth of qualified medical professionals in poverty-stricken US regions.

But in the wake of the terror concerns and the national immigration debate, health officials and some lawmakers worry that increasing restrictions and scrutiny threaten to undermine efforts to bring these doctors to regions where many US-born doctors are loath to work, and exacerbate the shortage of physicians in the country as a whole.

[aldewitt-2009]

It may be pallitive care, but generally prosecutors are not the people to evaluate that. I would suspect that the prosecutor had this reviewed by the medical examiner and a couple of docs before he filed the charges. You would have to have good evidence before you'd file a charge like this. Trying a doctor for criminal conduct is tough, and convincing a jury that the doctor did harm is not as easy as it seems. He will have a competent defense, you can count on that.

I do not believe that his race or national origin has anything to do with his competence. If you do not like foreign medical graduates, my view is you shouldn't go to one.

[mrseverett-2009]

aldewitt - thank you. you have helped bring some maturity to this forum.