Man Dies After Getting "Diseased" Heart Transplant

New York-Presbyterian Hospital

The family of a man who received a heart transplant at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 2006 has filed a lawsuit against the hospital, claiming they may have lied about knowing the transplanted heart was "diseased." Ronald Bello got a new heart after the hospital found a donor match for him in Florida, but a week after the surgery the heart hemorrhaged and he died. The family's lawyer told the Post, "It is outrageous that a hospital harvested a heart that on a [later] autopsy was proven to have vascular disease...They either knew, or should have known that this was a diseased heart."

The hospital claims they did an angiogram in Florida which showed the heart was suitable for transplant, but the family's lawyer claims the hospital has "failed to produce a single document to support the fact that they did any tests to determine that the heart was appropriate." Earlier this year, widow Kimberly Liew sued NYU medical center for transplanting a kidney "covered in tumors" into her husband, Vincent. He died seven months after the transplant from uterine cancer, which the female donor had prior to her death. NYU was found not liable for Vincent Liew's death.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on August 2, 2010 2:38 PM

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Peter

A victim lost his life due to doctor negligence. The family of a victim token a correct step that they has filed a lawsuit against the hospital, claiming they may have lied about knowing the transplanted heart was "diseased.". Hopefully they get justice very soon.

Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Florida

ak

Tragic. Sadder still that sometimes there's nobody to blame. I assume, without the transplant, he would have died? But doctors aren't magicians - some diseases are very difficult to detect in donor organs. Not saying they shouldn't be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law if malpractice is obviously evident, but to be sued for a mistake any medical professional could have made is like being punished for not being God.

Outter Burrougher

depending on how advanced his illness was, it could've been possible for him to wait for a healthier heart. whether or not they could've known this was a diseased heart is a legitimate question, but to dismiss the entire episode by saying "well, he was as good as dead anyway" is unnecessarily insensitive.