Lawsuit Against Stem Cell Transplant Program

Lawsuit Against Stem Cell Transplant Program

A hospital, blood center, cancer center, and other institutions in Kansas City have been sued by a group of former patients and family members of deceased patients regarding stem cell transplants performed in the late 1990’s. The suit alleges that the various institutions were negligent in reviewing stem cell quality. The patients were apparently [I’m reading between the lines of the article here] given stem cell transplants as part of their treatment for cancer. About 25 % of the 40 people who received treatment died within a few months, and half were dead after two years. These are much higher mortality rates than those usually associated with stem cell transplants. The case is up for trial next March. Unsurprisingly, the defendants affirm the quality of their program.

Obviously there are a number of questions here the answers to which will probably only come out in court. Certainly the number of deaths raises concerns, but there could be many other factors: how were the patients selected for the program? How advanced was their cancer? What kind of cancer did they have? Were they told this was experimental and did they give informed consent to the risks? In at least one possible universe, the people who received the treatment may have been among those most likely to die from other causes. I’m only speculating here, and can certainly speculate the other way as well: Maybe someone in the lab cut corners, or perhaps the equipment was contaminated. The line between genuine error and negligence can be very blurry at times, and it’s quite possible that several things, any one of which alone would not have been problematic, combined to become deadly. If it goes to a jury, it will be interesting to see what happens. (I’m expecting pre-trial 11th hour settlements myself….)