Most of the time when I find something online that’s relevant to the NDY blog, I pull out an excerpt and point people back to the original article. First, because it’s written by Mike Ervin, who has written pieces featured in our humor section. This piece isn’t exactly humor, but it’s something that fits with some concerns I and others have had for quite awhile – those of us who have significant doubts about what we should do about that “organ donor” section on our driver’s licenses or ID cards.
And because the site that published this essay is operated by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA), I thought I might have a shot at getting permission to publish the piece in its entirety. In this, I was right. The permission was granted almost immediately, by NSCIA executive director K. Erik Larson. This isn’t surprising. NSCIA is an organization that has long combined “traditional” advocacy with support for- and allying with – disability rights activists (like NDY and ADAPT) on cutting-edge issues affecting the disability community.
So, without further delay, here is the latest from our friends Mike Ervin and NSCIA:
Our Top Story: Doctor Acquitted of Hastening Man’s Death to Obtain Organs
By Mike Ervin
It was one of those rare moments in life when we are presented with a no-brainer moral decision. I recently had my state ID card renewed. The woman asked me if I wanted it designated on my card that I want to be an organ donor. I said sure. How selfish would I be to take perfectly recyclable organs to my grave?
But now I want to find out how to officially rescind that decision. In fact, I want to find out if on the back of my card I can write in big red letters KEEP YOUR STINKIN’ HANDS OFF MY ORGANS!!!
It’s all because of the recent acquittal by a California jury of Dr. Hootan C. Roozrokh. He was charged with abuse of a dependent adult and could have gone to prison for eight years in connection with the 2006 death of Ruben Navarro. Navarro’s disability was adrenal leukodystrophy (ALD), which was depicted in the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil.” He was a nursing home resident and one day he was rushed to the hospital because he wasn’t breathing. He was put on a respirator but doctors took him off after only a few days.
Navarro‘s mother agreed to donate his organs and Roozrokh came to harvest them. The goal was to take out Navarro’s organs within 30 minutes after his death, when they are considered to be most beneficial. But when the respirator was disconnected, Navarro didn’t die.
So, according to the case, Roozrokh gave Navarro lethal doses of narcotics. But when he still didn’t die after 30 minutes, Roozrokh gave up and never extracted an organ. Navarro lived for another eight hours.
A prosecutor said Roozrokh “tried to accelerate [Navarro’s] death to facilitate the harvesting of his organs.” But a jury didn’t even think the single abuse charge brought against Roozrokh was worthy of any punishment at all.
Navarro’s mother, Rosa, reportedly said, “They mistreated him and they abused him and they took advantage of him and me. He didn’t die with dignity, and I didn’t have the chance to really say goodbye to him. I don’t think its right. These people need to pay for what they did to him.”
But it doesn’t look like anyone but Ruben and his loved ones will pay.
So now I’m wondering. I certainly don’t mind passing my organs on for others to enjoy. But I do want to make absolutely sure I’m absolutely finished using them first. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
But who’s going to watch out for my precious organs if I don’t? I sure wouldn’t count on any jury to do it. Apparently it’s not hard to find 12 people who can be convinced that trying to kill someone with a disability doesn’t even rise to the level of abuse.
Published: 2008-12-22
Republished from the NSCIA website with permission of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA). 1-800-962-9629 www.spinalcord.org