FBI Investigates UCI Liver Program
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a criminal inquiry into problems at the University of California-Irvine Medical Center's liver transplant program, which closed in November 2005, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In a prepared statement released Saturday, UCI spokesperson James Cohen said, "We have received a Department of Justice administrative subpoena related to the liver transplant program." It was unclear what part of the program was under investigation, the Times reports.
Cohen said the university would cooperate with the investigation (Berthelsen, Los Angeles Times, 4/9).
The program closed after a CMS report found more than 30 patients at UCIMC died awaiting liver transplants after the hospital turned down organ donations because of staffing shortages (California Healthline, 11/11/05).