A transplant expert told jurors Monday that he was testifying in a high-profile organ transplant criminal case in San Luis Obispo because he believed the surgeon on trial had been unfairly charged and wants to prevent harm to the practice of organ transplantation.
Dr.
John Fung, director of the transplant center at Cleveland Clinic in
Ohio, testified in defense of transplant surgeon Hootan Roozrokh based
on principle, he said. Fung said he didn’t want to see what happened in
northeast Ohio happen again. That’s
where, he said, numerous potential organ donors were lost when the same
kind of organ harvest Roozrokh attempted on a disabled man in San Luis
Obispo was virtually halted for some 10 years.
Excerpted from SanLuisObispo.com.
