A California transplant surgeon has been cleared of intentional harm after an intellectually-disabled man whose organs he wanted to harvest died. Iranian-born Dr Hootan C. Roozrokh was charged after a transplant failed in February 2006 in a San Luis Obispo hospital. It was a very complex case and the doctor was eventually charged with abuse of a dependent adult, after two other charges — administering harmful substances and unlawful prescription -- were dropped. His lawyer successfully argued that Dr Roozrokh “had been trying to ease the patient’s suffering after other doctors failed to perform their duties. “Dr Roozrokh was put in an untenable situation where he could have walked out,” the lawyer said, “but had he walked out, there was no one there to care for Ruben.”

The problem arose because Dr Roozrokh wanted to remove the heart of 25-year-old Ruben Navarro after it had stopped beating. However, quite unexpectedly, his heart did not stop. The doctor’s intentions and what doses of medicines he administered in this situation were the main issues.

The verdict – which took the jury two days to reach -- was greeted with relief by American transplant surgeons who are well aware of the thin line between killing a patient and allowing him to die. The the jury issued a statement with its verdict which said that there was a “desperate need” for clear policy on cardiac death donations. ~ New York Times, Dec 18