A hospital in California is under investigation by The Medical Board of California after… A hospital in California is under investigation by The Medical Board of California after skipping over nine of its patients and transplanting a liver to a less needy Saudi national.

So far, the lawyer of one of the accused maintains that the doctors were not aware of any wrongdoing and indeed did think that the Saudi national was the only one in St. Vincent Medical Center in need of a transplant at the time. Evidence seems to suggest otherwise.

Apparently, these two surgeons – who were also the director and assistant director of the hospital at the time – did not adhere to organ transplant rules and went so far as to cover up the illegal procedure by forging documents. Furthermore, the amount paid to the hospital by The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia was 25 to 30 percent more than the regular cost of the procedure. The implications of this alone make the transplant procedures at St. Vincent’s at the very least questionable.

Aside from the corruption that could possibly be revealed about this incident is the outright violation of the rules regarding transplants in light of the fact that so few donors actually make their organs available after death.

The basis for the transplant list – on which the Saudi national ranked 52nd – is the duration of time one has been waiting for a transplant and the severity of one’s medical condition. This list also covers a significant amount of southern California, and at the time that they were administering this procedure to the Saudi national, a patient who was classified as a higher priority at UCLA Medical Center went without a liver.

Perhaps the most disturbing issue concerning the transplant in question by surgeons in administrative positions is the paucity of available organs. Only 20,000 out of an estimated 100,000 people in need of a transplant received one in 2004. Well over half of these people wait for organs that have great potential to improve their quality of life that never come.

Many have made this a question about whether or not organs should be offered to Americans first. While it is true that Americans invest a significant amount of money into the healthcare system via taxes and research, it doesn’t make an American life more precious than that of a Saudi national. At the same time, however, that doesn’t give any hospital the right to bypass anyone when, for example, a higher dollar amount is offered for a transplant.

While the surgeons in question are now no longer affiliated with the hospital, and liver transplants have been suspended until further notice, the fact remains that a rule was broken. And while bioethicists and transplant experts have several suggestions on what can be done to change the current system, if the rules concerning transplant lists are not even being followed now, there is no sense in changing something which has a current value that is questionable.