In 2003, surgeons at Duke University Hospital transplanted a heart and two lungs into 17-year-old Jesica Santillan. At that time, the procedure was rare and difficult. Tragically, surgeons had given Santillan donated organs with the wrong blood type, causing her body to reject the new heart and lungs. Her system to shut down. Two weeks later, after the first operation, she received a second transplant. This time, however, with the correct blood type. But it was too late to save her life. Santillan had suffered severe and irreversible brain damage, and tests showed she was brain dead. Doctors told the family they were going to stop the medicines and the machines that were helping the 17-year-old breathe.
Santillan’s mother accused Duke Hospital
Santillan’s mother accused Duke Hospital