New York Hospital Cleared in Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

New York, NYA New York jury trying a hospital malpractice lawsuit has sided with the medical provider in a case stemming from a cancerous kidney transplant.

Kimberly Liew, a 46-year-old widow, had filed suit against the NYU Langone Medical Center after her diabetic husband contracted cancer from a diseased kidney he received in an organ transplant performed at the facility by Dr. Thomas Diflo. The doctor contended that the patient had died of a stroke and had not been diagnosed with cancer until six weeks after the transplant.

Liew's husband, Vincent, had decided to keep the organ when doctors assured him that there was very little risk of him developing uterine cancer. He had it removed when he became sick in August 2002 and died a month later of what autopsies claim to be cancer contracted from the diseased kidney.

Kimberly Liew sued the hospital for $3 million in damages, yet a Queens court deemed that the hospital had done no wrong, as it had advised the man of the risks involved in the procedure and monitored the kidney after the operation.

Despite the loss, Liew feels that she fulfilled her late husband's wish to inform people of the risks involved in organ transplants.

"His wish has been accomplished; that is the most important thing," Kimberly told the NY Daily News. "Donor organs and doctors will be more careful ... patients will be more educated. I believe that."