Official: Kidney for Ohio transplant put in trash

[August 25, 2012]  TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- A health commissioner says a nurse accidentally disposed of a kidney from a living donor at an Ohio hospital that later suspended its kidney transplant program.

The University of Toledo Medical Center suspended the program after the botched transplant earlier this month.

The Blade newspaper (http://bit.ly/P0XEIt) reported Friday a kidney donated by a man to his older sister was thrown away with medical waste in what medical experts describe as a rare accident. The Toledo-Lucas County health commissioner confirms a nurse disposed of the kidney.

A hospital official has said doctors tried unsuccessfully for at least two hours to resuscitate the organ in an attempt to make it usable.

The hospital blamed "human error" and suspended two operating room nurses.

It's unclear what happened to the intended kidney recipient.

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Information from: The Blade,
http://www.toledoblade.com/

[Associated Press]

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