California Medical Board Drops Complaint against Roozrokh

The Medical Board of California has withdrawn its complaint seeking to revoke or suspend the medical license of a Dr. Hootan Roozrokh, a San Francisco surgeon accused of trying to speed potential organ donor, Ruben Navarro's death. (LA Times)

The Medical Board complaint, filed last year, accused Roozrokh of being in the operating room before Navarro's death and of "actively monitoring the patient's vital signs for a determination of death." Under state law, transplant doctors cannot direct the care of organ donors before they are declared dead. Prosecutors alleged that Roozrokh ordered excessive doses of painkillers so that Navarro would die within half an hour of being taken off life support so that the organs would be usable.

Candis Cohen, a spokeswoman with the Medical Board, said Wednesday that additional iinformation had come to the attention of the deputy attorney general [during last year's criminal trial]. "She determined she could not meet the burden of proof."