Coroner: Removing man's organs was homicide

DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A western Colorado coroner said Monday that two hospitals allowed vital organs to be removed from a man before they had proven he was brain dead, and he declared the death a homicide.

The cause of William Rardin's death was "removal of his internal organs by an organ recovery team," Montrose County Coroner Mark Young said. He said he did not believe the case should be a criminal matter, but that it "should lead to a clarification of what the accepted standard is."

Young said Montrose Memorial Hospital in Montrose and St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction did not follow "accepted medical standards" or meet state guidelines in determining that 31-year-old William Rardin was brain dead after he shot himself last month.

Rardin's heart, liver, pancreas and two kidneys were transplanted into waiting patients.

Officials with St. Mary's and the organization that coordinates organ donation in Colorado and Wyoming insisted the surgeons followed rules and did nothing wrong.

"We have never, ever had anything like this presented to us before," said Sue Dunn, vice president of organ procurement operations for the Denver-based Donor Alliance. "We talked to the family the day of the donation. ... This gentleman was on the donor registry. We've heard nothing from them regarding this."

Young said state lawmakers should take up the issue.

"I think it (the organ donation) was done in good faith. ... But the standard has me thinking about taking the organ donation card off my license," Young said. "I don't mind donating organs if I'm dead, but I want to be dead first."

Source

I'm not listed as an organ donor,now I don't think I ever want to be :o

Afeter reading that I appreciate your sentiments Zazu. On the other hand, I was listening to the news on Sunday night about the Palestine crisis. The newscaster said that twenty people had been killed. Among the dead was a man that could not speak or hear.:blink: :lol: :lol:

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Originally Posted by bigboab

Afeter reading that I appreciate your sentiments Zazu. On the other hand, I was listening to the news on Sunday night about the Palestine crisis. The newscaster said that twenty people had been killed. Among the dead was a man that could not speak or hear.:blink: :lol: :lol:

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I'm not sure I see how that relates to these organ recovery teams harvesting organs from someone who may not have been dead :huh: