SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - A woman who sued a doctor over his efforts to harvest her son's organs has amended her civil lawsuit to include other defendants.
The revised wrongful death suit was filed Monday, the same day prosecutors charged Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, a 33-year-old San Francisco transplant surgeon, with three felony counts for allegedly ordering massive doses of drugs to speed Ruben Navarro's death last year.
Roozrokh is the lead defendant in the suit, which also named three local doctors and a nurse who cared for the 25-year-old Navarro.
The coroner's office determined Navarro died of natural causes. Prosecutors have said they don't plan to charge anyone else in the case.
Navarro's mother, Rosa, claimed in the suit that her son was removed from life support without her permission and given lethal doses of drugs. She initially said Roozrokh told her there was no chance of survival, but the amended suit clarified that Roozrokh was not the person who gave her the news.
Roozrokh's lawyer, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, has maintained his client's innocence.
Navarro, who was born with a neurological disorder, was admitted to Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center last year after suffering cardiac arrest. He was diagnosed with irreversible brain damage and put on a respirator.
His organs were never recovered because he did not die within the time frame when his organs would be viable.
Posted in State-and-regional on Saturday, August 4, 2007 12:00 am Updated: 8:45 am.
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