UTMC suspends kidney transplant program

[Karol]

UTMC suspends kidney transplant program
BY IGNAZIO MESSINA
BLADE STAFF WRITER

The University of Toledo Medical Center has suspended its living kidney transplant program following a surgery which ended in a usable being kidney ruined.

Dr. Michael Rees, a transplant surgeon at UT who performed the surgery, was not in his office today and could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month, Dr. Rees said UT, in partnership with his Maumee-based Alliance for Paired Donation, had landed a four-year, $2 million federal grant.

Dr. Jeffrey Gold, chancellor and vice president for biosciences and health affairs at UTMC, the former Medical College of Ohio Hospital, said a kidney removed from a living donor was "rendered unusable" before being implanted into a waiting recipient. The recipient was under anesthesia in an adjoining or nearby operating room but the transplant surgery had begun.

Dr. Gold refused to say how the kidney was ruined and he refused to identify the relationship between donor and recipient.  Two operating room nurses were suspended with pay after the surgery.

According to its Web site, the kidney transplant program has operated for nearly 40 years.

“Since the first kidney transplant operation was performed at The University of Toledo Medical Center in 1972, more than 1,700 kidney transplant operations have been performed, with an average patient survival rate of 98 percent and a graft survival rate of 94 percent,” the Web site states.

A letter written Monday and signed “the Department of Renal Transplant” implied something had gone awry with a transplant.

“At the University of Toledo Medical Center we are committed in our mission to improve the human condition by providing quality, patient-centered health care,” the letter said. “Recently, a process to achieve this failed, so the kidney transplant program decided to voluntarily suspend providing living kidney donor transplant services on August 10th, 2012. Please note that our deceased donor transplant program and all related services are fully operational and are actively managing our patients and families.”

The letter said the hospital could still evaluate potential candidates and living donors and provide transplant recipient follow-up care.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Medical/2012/08/22/UTMC-suspends-kidney-transplant-program.html

[Karol]

Here's the hospital's announcement, below. I have heard that the Alliance for Paired Donation is also on hold due to this loss of a living donor kidney.---

TRANSPLANT OFFICE
UT-University Medical Center
Dowling Hall
Second Floor, Room 2314
3065 Arlington Avenue
Toledo, Ohio 43614-5807
Fax: 419-383-5728
August 20, 2012
At the University of Toledo Medical Center we are committed in our mission to
improve the human condition by providing quality, patient-centered health care.
Recently, a process to achieve this failed, so the kidney transplant program decided to
voluntarily suspend providing living kidney donor transplant services on August 10th, 2012.
Please note that our deceased donor transplant program and all related services
are fully operational and are actively managing our patients and families. This
suspension of living donor transplant surgery enables us to evaluate and modify our
transplant related procedures and protocols, so we can continue meeting the
expectation of excellent patient service and care.
This voluntary suspension means that The University of Toledo Medical Center is
unable to perform live donor kidney recovery and kidney transplantation surgical
services from live donors during this period.  We can still evaluate potential
candidates and living donors, as well as provide transplant recipient follow up care
during this period. You do have the option of transferring your care to an alternative
facility if this is your desire. We expect the review process to take several weeks, and
we will notify you immediately once our review process is completed.   
So, if you need assistance in determining the impact of this suspension on your
potential for receiving or donating a kidney, please contact your transplant
coordinator using the provided list or call Jennifer Mikulak at (419) 383-4174. Our
transplant coordinators and staff will explain your available options and help you in
any manner necessary.
Attached is information from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
describing the services and information offered to patients by UNOS and the Organ
Procurement and Transplantation Network. 
We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to managing your care.
Everyone’s goal is to ensure that you receive a safe and successful kidney transplant.
Sincerely,
Department of Renal Transplant
University of Toledo Medical Center

[elephant]

Nurse put kidney for patient transplant in trash
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48800305/ns/health/

TOLEDO, Ohio — A nurse accidentally disposed of a kidney from a living donor this month at an Ohio hospital, and doctors tried unsuccessfully for at least two hours to resuscitate the organ in what medical experts describe as a rare accident, health officials said.
"Human error rendered the kidney unusable," University of Toledo Medical Center spokesman Toby Klinger said Saturday, but he declined to give more details, citing the hospital's investigation into what happened and its respect for the privacy of the patients involved.
But one of the doctors involved told Dr. David Grossman, a Toledo-Lucas County health commissioner, that a nurse disposed of the kidney improperly. Two nurses have been placed on paid administrative leave while the hospital reviews what happened, Klinger said.
Grossman told the Blade newspaper in Toledo that a man had donated the kidney to his older sister. Both the donor and the intended recipient have been released from the hospital, Klinger said.
The hospital has voluntarily suspended the live kidney donor program while they review what happened and determine how to prevent errors in the future, according to Dr. Jeffrey Gold, the medical center's chancellor and vice president for biosciences and health affairs.
He said that doctors tried to save the kidney, but "the physician in consultation with the family decided to not take the risk knowing there was a good chance for another highly compatible donor."
Grossman's office is not involved in the investigation or connected to the medical center, Klinger said. Grossman could not be reached for comment Saturday. The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department was closed, and Grossman's home telephone number was not available.
This kind of accident is unheard of in organ transplant centers and it was a good decision not to use the kidney, Dr. William Harmon, director of kidney transplantation at Boston Children's Hospital, told the Blade.
"This is unfortunately what medicine is like — it is not perfect, and there have been far worse cases where the donor has died," Harmon said.
Officials at the United Network for Organ Sharing, an agency that oversees the nation's transplant programs, could not be reached for comment Saturday.