Liver Patients Decry UCI

By The Orange County Register, Calif.

Nov. 13–The woman behind the investigation that closed UCI Medical Center’s liver-transplant program on Thursday spent four years waiting, while her liver grew to weigh 30 pounds.

Six months after Elodie Irvine transferred to Cedars-Sinai, she had a new liver.

Irvine waited seven times longer than similar patients at other hospitals. Her case, and that of two others still languishing on the waiting list when UCI closed its program, highlight the flaws found in a probe by Medicare — a probe prompted by Irvine’s lawsuit.

The study found low transplant numbers, inadequate staffing, waiting-list mismanagement and poor survival rates.

The people left waiting by UCI describe days wracked with pain, and now despair at how to proceed.

“It’s like falling off the face of earth and thinking, ‘How do I fly?’ Because I’m going to hit the bottom soon,” said Donna Will, whose husband, Donald, waits for a liver.

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