Organ allocation manipulation at the heart center

Examination of organ donation could lead to more organ donations

01/10/2014

After the organ donation scandal in Göttingen, transplants at German hospitals were examined for the second time. The examiners discovered only a systematic manipulation in the organ allocation. At the German Heart Center in Berlin, in 14 known cases, patient data should have been deliberately changed in order to give those affected better chances of having a donor organ. With the close monitoring of the transplantation, the experts hope to create more trust in the population, which could increase the number of organ donations again. Since the Göttingen transplant scandal, the number of donors has reached a record low.

Stronger control of organ allocation should create trust and increase the number of organ donations
However, the examination of the transplants also showed that in all other clinics only minor errors, but no deliberate delusions in organ donation occurred. The Trial Commission hopes that this result will increase public confidence and lead to more people agreeing to donate their organs in the event of death. Since the announcement of the manipulation of transplants, the organ donation readiness has reached its low point. The lack of organs has meanwhile led to more and more people making live organ donation - for example, a kidney or a part of their liver - for critically ill relatives.

„More transparency is there“, said Hans Lilie, chairman of the Standing Committee on Organ Transplantation at the German Medical Association, to the news agency „dpa“. An eight to twelve eye system now supervise the inclusion of a patient on the organ waiting list. According to Lily, the tests give a realistic picture of the situation as an afterthought „tweak“ patient records are not possible to cover up manipulation.

„A very positive conclusion“, Anne-Gret Rinder, chair of the board of examiners of the German Medical Association, told the news agency. However, the check is only random. In addition, lawyers in the testing commission must rely on the expertise of physicians who perform checks on physicians.

Reasons for manipulation in transplants still unclear
To the reasons for the proven manipulations at the German heart center the examiners could not yet give information, explained cattle. The clinic had already reported itself in August after internal checks. The prosecutor is already investigating attempted manslaughter. Because if a patient slips up through manipulation on the waiting list, that means for another seriously ill person that he may no longer receive a donor organ in time and dies.

The investigation has so far revealed that no private patients were favored by the manipulations. In six cases, patients were shown to be given high-dose medications to help them get better places on the organs' waiting list.

Few black sheep in transplant medicine have brought the entire area into disrepute
Prof. Dr. jur. Ruth Rissing-van Saan, presiding judge at the Federal Court of Justice i. R. and head of the independent trust office „transplantation medicine“ in the German Medical Association, criticized in an interview with the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) the kind of discussion that is currently conducted in the media about transplantation medicine. It was „partly highly unobjective“. This would make many people insecure, especially those who are waiting for an organ. „If one is not aware of this, and does not participate constructively in restoring confidence, one harms the patient and not the German Medical Association. That really affects me. There are problems that you had not seen before. That is completely clear and nobody denies it. But you have to try to solve these things with reason and clear mind, not with emotions and hate speech“, notes Rissing-van Saan. „It was some doctors who discredited a whole profession and an important area of ​​medicine. I wish to be transparent about everything. And if there are problems, you have to speak openly about it. This happens meanwhile too.“ (Ag)