This article will cover,
The story of a little boy who was brought into emergency and a closer look at how his organs ended up being harvested.
A Pediatric Death Investigator rules Death by Fentanyl in which the Doctor admits was given to Induce Death. The 8 year old boy Was an Organ Donor!
Hear how Medical professionals including the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner attempted to block the truth and what was done to the Pediatric Death Investigator dedicated to exposing it!
How this little boy was given fentanyl "with the purpose of inducing his death." As stated in the medical charts and autopsy records, yet "interventions intended to preserve organ function, but which may hasten death, are prohibited."
So why was this allowed and not being acknowledged directly by the proper authorities. Doesn't it appear to be a Clear Cut Case when it is admitted to?
Does the following seem rather Convenient for them in turning a Blind Eye?
The nonprofit that oversees organ donation in the L.A. region, OneLegacy, said in a statement that its transplant teams have no role in the care of living patients.
Cole was born with fragile X syndrome, a genetic abnormality that causes intellectual and physical disabilities.
Cole's mother died in 2009.
Hartman and his next wife, Elizabeth, then raised Cole and Elizabeth adopted him in 2012.
On July 31, 2013, his father came in from mowing the lawn and found Cole headfirst in a running washing machine, according to the coroner's report and a recording of a 911 call. By his parents' estimation, Cole's head could have been underwater for as long as 25 minutes.
Cole was taken to a Santa Clarita hospital by ambulance and then flown by medical helicopter to UCLA later that night for more advanced care. In the pediatric intensive care unit, the Hartmans met Brill.
A professor emeritus of clinical anesthesiology and perioperative medicine at UCLA, Brill, 65, is a well-regarded expert in the treatment of seriously injured children. She helped write the state guidelines for pediatric critical care and spent much of her free time on medical missions to treat poor children in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
With other members of the medical team, she informed the Hartmans that a brain scan was "markedly abnormal" and suggested extensive damage from lack of oxygen, according to notes she made in Cole's chart.
The family "unanimously stated that they would prefer to withdraw support" and subsequently decided to donate his organs, Brill wrote.
The seemingly peaceful death four years ago at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is now the subject of an investigation by Los Angeles police and the district attorney's office. Homicide detectives are looking into an allegation by a coroner's investigator that the anesthesiologist gave Cole a fatal dose of the opioid fentanyl to hasten his death and increase the likelihood his organs could be harvested. No charges have been brought.
This is what happened to bring Cole into the emergency room.
By the time Cole Hartman arrived at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, he was in grave condition. The 8-year-old had gone into cardiac arrest Paramedics had gotten his heart beating again, but he remained in a coma and on a ventilator.
Physicians at UCLA's pediatric intensive care unit told Cole's family that the child was not brain-dead but "would never recover normal neuro function and … could never awaken," according to an entry in his medical chart.
The Hartmans decided to take Cole off life support and donate his organs. He was removed from the ventilator and, 23 minutes later with his family at his bedside, pronounced dead by an anesthesiologist.
Steps taken for organ retrieval
Because Cole wasn't brain-dead, the organ retrieval was to occur after the ventilator was removed and his heart stopped beating on its own under a procedure known as donation after cardiac death, or DCD.
This type of donation began in the U.S. in the mid-1990s and has become increasingly common in the last decade as the medical community tries to meet the overwhelming need for organ donors. DCD accounted for about 10% of deceased donors last year.
Cole was removed from the ventilator at 10:40 a.m. as a transplant team waited outside. He did not stop breathing immediately. What happened next is unclear.
If you look below, it's made Very Clear in the doctor's own words. Not sure why they Missed it!
The full coroner's report is sealed from public view pending the outcome of the police investigation, and UCLA declined to comment.
DCD comes with time pressures. Organs can begin deteriorating immediately, and some are not suitable for transplantation after 30 minutes.
Claims for Easing the boys' pain
Bertone, who said she reviewed the full medical charts and autopsy records, alleged in her lawsuit that the boy "continued to gasp for air" and that Brill then gave him fentanyl "with the purpose of inducing his death." Bertone's suit and coroner's records state that the administered dose was 500 micrograms.
UCLA's policy for DCD allows the use of opioids "in doses that are clinically appropriate to prevent discomfort." Under the policy, "interventions intended to preserve organ function, but which may hasten death, are prohibited."
Interesting because the family agreed to no life support, but *Not inducing his death!
And by their own "ethical" standards, *Those which hastendeath are prohibited!
So Why was this okay?
Cole's heart stopped at 10:59 a.m. and Brill declared death four minutes later, according to Brill's chart entry. Transplant surgeons removed Cole's kidneys and liver, according to coroner's records.
The nonprofit that oversees organ donation in the L.A. region, OneLegacy, said in a statement that its transplant teams have no role in the care of living patients.
At the coroner's office, Cole's case was assigned to Bertone, the only full-time pediatric death investigator. A registered nurse, Bertone had investigated more than 2,500 cases, including numerous child abuse cases. Law enforcement officers across the county called on her frequently to interpret crime scenes and help interview distraught parents. Reviewing the medical records, Bertone said she had concerns about giving a boy who weighed 47 pounds that quantity of fentanyl.
The seemingly peaceful death four years ago is now the subject of an investigation by Los Angeles police and the district attorney's office.
Bertone told Dr. Mark Fajardo, then-chief medical examiner-coroner, she thought Cole died from fentanyl — making his death, in her estimation, a possible murder or manslaughter — and urged him to test a sample of the boy's blood, she alleges in the lawsuit.
Fajardo declined and ruled the cause of death was near-drowning. Fragile X syndrome was listed as another significant cause, according to coroner's records.
Fajardo kept the case from being investigated
After Fajardo left office last year, Bertone approached the then-interim chief medical examiner, Dr. Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, who agreed to reopen the case. A pediatric toxicologist brought in as an expert by the coroner's office found that the fentanyl "was responsible for the death of this patient" and that the dose was "not consistent with a therapeutic dose for the management of pain and discomfort," according to excerpts of his findings quoted in a coroner's report.
Homicide detectives are looking into an allegation by a coroner's investigator that the anesthesiologist gave Cole a fatal dose of the opioid fentanyl to hasten his death and increase the likelihood his organs could be harvested.
No charges have been brought.
There is more in the article concerning this.
A rare criminal investigation
The probe is one of only a handful of known criminal investigations into a doctor's role in an organ donation, and it offers a window into the ethical issues that can play out during a donor's last moments of life.
"As you can imagine, this is very complicated," said LAPD Capt. William Hayes, who oversees the elite Robbery-Homicide Division conducting the investigation. "We need to clearly understand what was done and the implications of those actions."
The Guardian of Children Whistleblower
Detectives opened the case earlier this year. Denise Bertone, a veteran coroner's investigator who specializes in child deaths, first flagged the use of fentanyl at the time of Cole's 2013 autopsy and campaigned for years to persuade supervisors to reexamine the case. Her efforts resulted in the coroner's office amending Cole's death certificate in December to add fentanyl toxicity as a "significant cause" of his death.
As a result, Sathyavagiswaran changed Cole's death certificate in December to add fentanyl toxicity to the list of causes of death and asked for a law enforcement investigation. The manner of death — whether it was an accident or a homicide — remains listed as "undetermined" pending the outcome of the investigation.
In what was believed to be the first organ donation prosecution in the United States
You would think she would be commended, but ended up having to file a case when. . .
Bertone filed a whistle-blower retaliation lawsuit last month accusing the coroner's office of giving her less-desirable assignments as punishment for raising questions about Cole's death.
This happened in June of 2017
Bertone is no longer assigned full time to pediatric cases. In her lawsuit, she contends supervisors removed her from the work she loved in retaliation for challenging the handling of Cole's case. She is suing the county for damages that include the loss of overtime, on-call pay and a take-home car.
"This is someone who has really had an exemplary career," said Dr. Jean Lake, a pediatric neurologist at Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach. She is "just so concerned that her ability, her skills, her intentions would be called into question."
Interesting. . .so let's dive deeper! When you're ready, connecting article here titled,
Inside the vast world of Organ Harvesting! From Cartels where dozens of bodies are found in trucks to the Chinese Forced Organ Trade and Falun Gong!
Sources;
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-adv-organ-donation-20170612-story.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/organ-donation-death/530511/