Carey v. New England Organ Bank

17 Mass. L. Rptr. 582
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedApril 23, 2004
DocketNo. 02602
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 17 Mass. L. Rptr. 582 (Carey v. New England Organ Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carey v. New England Organ Bank, 17 Mass. L. Rptr. 582 (Mass. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

Lowy, J.

INTRODUCTION

The plaintiffs, Richard and Margaret Carey, (collectively “the plaintiffs”), brought this action against New England Organ Bank (“NEOB”), and New England Eye and Tissue Transplant Bank (“NEETTB/TBI”)3 (collec[583]*583tively “the defendants”). The plaintiffs’ action stems from the defendants’ recovery of tissue from the body of Adam Carey, following his death on September 16, 2000. The plaintiffs, Adam’s parents, consented to the donation, but claim the defendants acted negligently and not in good faith when soliciting their consent and harvesting Adam’s tissue and organs. The harvested tissue could not be used for human transplantation, due to the lack of an adequate blood sample necessary for mandated testing. Count I alleges negligence, Count II alleges misrepresentation, Count III alleges tortious interference with a dead body, and Count IV alleges negligent infliction of emotional distress. This matter is now before the court on the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the alternative, for Partial Summary Judgment.4 For the reasons set forth below, the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is ALLOWED.

BACKGROUND

The record discloses the following undisputed facts.

On September 16, 2000, Adam Carey was involved in an accident at the Kemwood Country Club in Beverly, Massachusetts. Adam received emergency treatment at the scene of the accident, and was then transported to North Shore Medical Center (“NSMC”) in Salem, Massachusetts for emergency treatment. Adam received saline and other fluids as part of his emergency treatment. Adam was pronounced dead at 10:58 a.m. Jorge Duran, of the NEOB, spoke to Richard Carey about the option of donating Adam’s tissue and organs. Richard Carey verbally consented to the recovery, while Tarah Conaway of the NEOB listened to both sides of the conversation. Jorge reduced Richard’s verbal consent to writing on the “Recorded Telephone or Other Recorded Authorization” form and Tarah signed as a witness.

A donor’s blood must undergo serologic testing to ensure that the donated organs or tissue are eligible for transplant.5 A donor’s blood cannot be accurately tested if it is hemodiluted from fluids received during medical treatment. To determine whether a donor’s blood is hemodiluted, one must perform a calculation based on the amount of fluids received, time received, time of death, the donor’s height, weight, and other factors. At the time the plaintiffs consented to donate Adam’s organs and tissue, personnel from NEOB had collected some medical information from NSMC and decided to proceed with the recovery. It is unclear from the record exactly what information NSMC provided to NEOB. When viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the non-moving party, however, the record would support an inference that the defendants had all the information necessary (i.e. Adam’s weight, height, and infusion record) to make the hemodilution calculation at the time they decided to harvest Adam’s organs. The plaintiffs do not allege that the defendants actually made this calculation first, and then disregarded it and proceeded with the recovery. The record does include a form entitled “Hemodilution/Blood Sample” which has Adam’s hemodilution calculation, but does not indicate the time that this calculation was made.6

After NEOB obtained the plaintiffs’ consent to donate certain organs and tissue from Adam’s body, they contacted NEETTB/TBI.7 On September 16, 2000, after Adam’s death, staff from NEOB and NEETTB/TBI went to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and performed the recovery. Richard Luskin, Executive Director of NEOB, examined the documents that the NEOB recovery team reviewed before recovery, and testified that the documents did not contain any evidence that a hemodilution calculation was done. Tom Buckley, Executive Director of NEETTB testified that when his recovery team arrived at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office at approximately 9:00 p.m., Adam’s medical chart was not available. Tom Buckley testified that NEETTB relied on NEOB’s decision to proceed with recovery as evidence that the screening information NEOB obtained from NSMC indicated that Adam’s organs and tissue could be transplanted.

After the recovery, the defendants determined that Adam’s tissue could not be used for transplant due to hemodilution of Adam’s blood and the resultant lack of an adequate blood sample. The defendants attempted to locate a pre-hemodilution blood sample from Adam, but were unsuccessful. On September 18, 2000, NEETTB/TBI completed a “In House Follow Up” form which indicates that Adam’s blood sample was hemodiluted and that he was not a qualified donor. On September 19, 2000, NEOB made a notation on their ‘Tissue Donor Information Checklist” to discard Adam’s organs and tissue. On October 4, 2000, NEETTB/TBI completed a “Record of Discard,” documenting that Adam’s recovered skin and corneas had been discarded.

Nonetheless, on October 9, 2000, NEETTB/TBI sent the plaintiffs a letter stating that the recovery was successful, and that one of Adam’s corneas had been already transplanted. On November 10,2000, NEOB sent plaintiffs a letter stating that recovery was successful and Adam’s tissue remained in quarantine at that time. On March 19,2001, NEETTB/TBI sent the plaintiffs another letter, explaining the administrative mistake that led to the erroneous information regarding the transplant of Adam’s cornea. NEETTB/TBI apologized and explained that Adam’s blood sample was hemodiluted and that therefore his donated organs and tissue could not be used for human transplant.

NEOB is a Massachusetts Corporation, organized under G.L.c. 180 as a charitable organization. NEOB is also qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a tax-exempt entity and under G.L.c. 64H §§6(d)-(e) as a tax-exempt purchaser. One of the stated purposes of NEOB is to “promote and implement the donation of human organs and tissue for transplantation and research.”8

[584]*584Tissue Banks International, Inc. (“TBI”) was incorporated under the laws of Maryland and is recognized by the Secretary of the Commonwealth as qualified to perform services in Massachusetts. One of the stated purposes of TBI is “(t]o arrange for, and to direct, unify, stimulate, coordinate and further the work being done with respect to any and all types of tissue transplants.”9 TBI is recognized as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. New England Efye and Tissue Transplant Bank (“NEETTB”) is a subsidiary organization of TBI. Employees working at NEETTB are employees of TBI. NEETTB does not have any bylaws, governing board or corporate structure separate from TBI, though NEETTB does maintain its own local organizational chart.

During 2001, NEOB discontinued its distribution activities and transferred its remaining tissue inventory to LifeNet, anon-profit corporation, and therefore recognized a gain in 2001. The disclosure in the tax return also states that NEOB may recognize additional gains in 2002 and 2003 if certain conditions are met. NEOB sent all the tissue recovered from Adam to Cryolife, a for-profit company that converts recovered tissue into a transplantable form. Additionally, TBI has written agreements with several different for-profit tissue processors. These processing companies accept, process and distribute recovered tissue from TBI.

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Bluebook (online)
17 Mass. L. Rptr. 582, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carey-v-new-england-organ-bank-masssuperct-2004.