The
LA Times is reporting that the Saudi Embassy bribed hospital officals to give a liver to a man who was 52nd on the donor list.
St. Vincent Medical Center, one of the largest organ transplantation centers in the state, has suspended its liver program after discovering that its doctors improperly arranged for a transplant to a Saudi national using an organ that should have gone to a much higher priority patient at another hospital, officials said.
Hospital staff members then falsified documents several times to cover up the alleged maneuver, pretending that the transplant was for a patient who was near the top of the regional waiting list, hospital President and Chief Executive Gus Valdespino confirmed Monday.
(snip)
The patient who received the successful transplant was actually 52nd on the list, which covers much of Southern California and takes into account such factors as who is sickest and who has been waiting longest.
A patient at UCLA Medical Center was entitled to receive the organ and St. Vincent should have declined it, Valdespino said.
Guess where the money came from.
The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia paid the $339,000 cost for the transplant and hospital stay, which is 25% to 30% higher than what the hospital would typically be paid for the procedure by insurance companies and government programs, Valdespino said. A lawyer for Ramos, who was paid separately for his services, said he believed that the patient was an impoverished Bedouin and that the doctor didn't know if he would be compensated.
I don't even have words for this right now.