Nurse Threw away Kidney; Ohio woman sues University of Toledo Medical Center:

Jojy Cheriyan MD;MPH-August 30,2013

Sarah, 24 years old, was under anesthesia in the Operation Theatre and ready to receive the perfect-match kidney donated by her 20 year old brother Paul to save her from end-stage renal disease.

But a nurse at University of Toledo Medical Center mistakenly tossed the organ, which was sitting in a temperature-controlled slush machine, before it could be transplanted in the surgery conducted on Aug. 10, 2012.

The untoward incident happened when a circulating nurse Melanie , who was covering for a part-time nurse Judith during her lunch break, but failed to properly update Judith on the status of the surgery after she returned from her break. Judith then unknowingly discarded the kidney along with other contents of the slush machine. The kidney was recovered but was unusable, according to the hospital report.

The hospital found another kidney for Sarah and paid for her transportation to Denver, Colorado, to receive another surgery on Nov. 13, 2012. In the months between August and November, Sarah suffered painful dialysis and four painful surgeries and was forced to live through the uncertainty of whether she would ever find a matching kidney before dying.

Sarah and her family are suing the hospital for medical negligence and losses they suffered. Her brother Paul now lives with one kidney, his sacrifice turned out to be a big loss to their family, all because of the horrible negligence.

The hospital in a written statement sincerely apologized for the error and said "we are saddened by this unfortunate situation and express our deepest feelings to our patients and their families. Out of this difficult situation health care quality and patient safety has been dramatically transformed."

The part-time nurse Judith who discarded the contents of the slush machine, including the kidney, before the surgery was complete, resigned on Sept. 10, 2012.

UTMC fired longtime nurse Melanie, who relieved the part-timer when the latter took a break. Melanie is now suing the hospital for wrongful discharge, defamation, slander and libel, according to a complaint filed Aug. 2 in the Ohio Court of Claims. Her husband, Patrick Lemay, also is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which seeks damages exceeding $25,000.

The hospital is also challenging claims by the family to recover damages for pain and suffering, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office, which is defending the medical center because it is a public university.

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