Transplant Surgeon Accused of Hastening a Patient's Death

A San Francisco transplant surgeon faces criminal charges for the death of one of his patients, one Ruben Navarro, who was allegedly "pushed" to die by over-medication with morphine and a substance called Ativan, which is a sedative. Doctor Hootan Roozrokh was already cleared of two other felony charges earlier this year, in March. Now, he is facing the dependent adult abuse charge, for allegedly not taking proper care of his patient.
 

This type of charge is the first of its kind, prosecutor Karen Gray says. Transplanting organs is a very demanding profession and even experts do not always succeed in harvesting the organs they need for transplants in due time. This spawns weird situations, when family and doctors wait around dying patients, to say goodbye, and to not miss the right moment for the harvesting, respectively.
 

If the trial ends with a conviction for the doctor, then a precedent will be created and all organ surgeons could potentially be accused of criminal intentions or other similar crimes. The position these people are in is very delicate, as is their job. Doctors in general, and surgeons in particular, have to be the ones who give families the bad news in case their loved ones die on the operating table.
 

And it can be very easy for people to lose their judgment and accuse them of not doing their job properly. Such was the case with Navarro's mother, who sued Roozrokh and the hospital for $250,000. Both parties came to a deal, but the agreement clearly stated that the hospital and its doctor weren't at all responsible for what had happened.
 

Prescribing painkillers is a common practice for terminally ill patients and doctors use morphine and other Ativan-like drugs all the time. This practice hasn't been questioned before and caregivers country-wide are waiting for a verdict in this particular case.