KANSAS CITY, Mo.-
A lawsuit against a stem cell transplant program alleges that it failed to ensure its stem cells were in good condition and concealed problems from patients, the Kansas City Star reported Sunday.
The program treated 40 adult patients in 1998 and 1999 whose stem cells were processed using a method intended to save time and increase efficiency, the newspaper reported.
About one-fourth of those patients died within 100 days of their transplants from complications such as hemorrhages, infections or the return of their cancer, the program’s internal documents show. Within two years, half of the patients were dead.
Transplant programs typically see far lower death rates, the Star reported.
The suits were filed by former patients and deceased patients’ survivors in Jackson County Circuit Court against St. Luke’s Hospital, the Community Blood Center, the Kansas City Cancer Center and other institutions.
Many of the patients who sued learned of the problems only years later, after a St. Luke’s lab technician who also was a patient found out about an outside expert’s confidential report and spread the word, the Star reported.
Jay Menitove, director of the Community Blood Center, declined to comment on the lawsuits. The blood center is no longer associated with the transplant program.
St. Luke’s spokeswoman Corrine Everson said: “We believe we’re a leading program in the volume and the quality of the care we deliver.”
Mark Myron, president of the Kansas City Cancer Center, said that even during the period when the stem-cell processing was brought into question, “the patients generally had very good results.”
Since that time, the transplant program has twice passed a rigorous accreditation, Myron said. “It’s a very excellent program that provides a very important community service,” he said.
Eighteen lawsuits were filed, and one has been settled for an undisclosed amount. The court has combined many of the lawsuits into one case, which is scheduled for trial in March.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
