Though the United Network for Organ Sharing didn't have time to check recipient Vincent Liew's new kidney, it's not like they had any warning: donor Sandy Cabrera didn't even know she had cancer. After suffering a stroke, she was raced to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, where doctors said she would never recover, and spoke to Cabrera's daughter about organ donation.
Dana Cabrera told the Daily News, "I was her No. 1 priority, she was always looking out for me. That generosity is part of the reason why I wanted to donate her organs, because that's the type of person she was." However, the kidney contained cells of previously undetected uterine cancer, which was transferred to Liew and ultimately lead to his death.
Liew's widow, Kimberly, is now suing the doctors who performed the transplant, saying she wasn't informed that the kidney was cancerous even after the doctors learned of it. At the trial yesterday, Dr. Thomas Diflo admitted that he decided not to remove the kidney, which cost Vincent Liew his life seven months after the transplant. Cabrera's cancer was discovered during an autopsy, so it's unclear why it took Diflo two months to learn of the diagnosis.
Dr. Diflo defended his decision, saying he and Vincent Liew came to it together. Diflo told Liew that his body was rejecting the kidney, and "safest thing to do would be to take the kidney out." But Liew allegedly had faith that it would work out, and insisted on leaving it in. However, Kimberly Liew's lawyer said that Diflo told them, "Don't worry about it, leave it in" when Liew started getting sick. Several other people received organs from Cabrera in 2002, but there have been no other lawsuits (so far). Recently, a bill was proposed in the State Legislature that would automatically make organ donation a default.
