The University of California has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle 35 claims filed on behalf of patients who waited in vain for liver transplants at UCI Medical Center and who were unaware that the school's program lacked the staffing to perform the life-saving operations.
The university closed the program in November 2005 after The Times reported that 32 patients died awaiting operations, even as the hospital in Orange turned down scores of organs proffered on their behalf.
A subsequent investigation resulted in a rapid-fire series of resignations, reorganizations and vows to restore the credibility and oversight of the Irvine school's medical programs.
The agreement by the UC Board of Regents to settle the cases largely closes the book on another embarrassing chapter in the history of UCI's medical programs, which have been plagued by various lapses over the years: the theft of eggs and embryos from patients in a fertility clinic, the failure to properly keep track of bodies in its medical cadaver program and failings in other transplant programs such as kidney and bone marrow.
The fertility cases were settled for $20 million.
UC settles liver transplant suits for $7.5 million - Los Angeles Times
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