Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitals, Paralyzed By Fear Over Penalties, Are Tossing Organs, Refusing To Do Transplants
Surgeries involving imperfect organs and extremely ill patients are more risky, so hospitals that do many of them run the risk of poor outcomes that may hurt their performance on the standards.
Hospitals聽across the United States聽are throwing away less-than-perfect organs and denying the sickest people lifesaving transplants out of fear that poor surgical outcomes will result in a federal crackdown. As a result, thousands of patients are losing the chance at lifesaving transplants, and the altruism of organ donation is being wasted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 gut-wrenching and mind-boggling,鈥 said Dr. Adel Bozorgzadeh, a transplant surgeon at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass. (Ross, 8/11)
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
