OSAKA -- Kansai Medical University will not appeal a court ruling acknowledging that the university hospital and one of its doctors illegally inserted catheters in a patient in preparation for removing her kidneys after she died.
In most kidney transplants, catheters are inserted in a donor before death so coolant liquid can be injected immediately after death to prevent deterioration of the organs. Kyoichi Inoue, director of the hospital, indicated that the hospital would continue catheter insertion before a donor's heart stops as long as the patient's family agrees. "There were discussions at the board of directors that the ruling may hinder kidney transplants in the future. But we interpreted the ruling to mean a donor's agreement is not necessary for the catheter insertion," he said.
In the suit, the mother of the patient, who died at the hospital in 1993, demanded 15 million yen in damages, claiming the doctor was more concerned with the kidney removal than with her daughter and acted improperly. The Osaka District Court last month ruled that the catheter insertion was illegal and ordered the university and doctor to pay 200,000 yen.
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