Widow of Kidney Transplant Patient Loses Case

The widow of a man who died after receiving a diseased kidney sued the hospital in New York City that performed the transplant for malpractice.  A jury has recently decided in favor of the hospital and does not believe they did anything wrong. Jurors began deliberations on Thursday afternoon and returned their verdict on Friday.

The unfortunate situation began in February of 2002 when Vincent Liew received a long awaited kidney transplant. The 50 year-old female donor died of a stroke the day before the transplant occurred. An autopsy of the woman revealed she had uterine cancer that begun to spread to her lungs. Liew’s doctor was not made aware of the findings until mid April. He informed Liew about the cancer and states, he recommended Liew have the kidney removed, but did not think he was at risk of developing cancer from the kidney. Liew opted to keep the kidney.

Six months later, Liew had the kidney removed due to excessive back pain. He died three weeks later from an unspecified cancer. He was just 37 years old. An autopsy revealed the cancer was caused by the diseased kidney.  Liew’s wife sued Langone Medical Center for 3 million dollars in damages. Many experts believe that this situation is unique and the possibility of a female cancer being spread via a kidney transplant is rare. A cancer expert testifying on behalf of the hospital suggested Liew had contracted a cancer associated with transplants in general. Two other people who received organs from the same donor died of cancer as well.