Relatives of two organ donors who were taken off life support at city hospitals said yesterday they believe their loved ones could not have been saved — and they were happy to help others live.
The families of Clifford Cheng and Carolyn Kelly insist they were not pressured by the New York Organ Donor Network to pull the plug, although their cases were cited in a lawsuit filed against the group.
“There was no sign that he was alive. He was completely brain-dead,” said Norman Cheng, whose brother died at Kings County Hospital in October after suffering a seizure and choking on his own vomit. “Since he lost his life, why not save someone else’s life?”
The lawsuit — filed by former network transplant coordinator Patrick McMahon — charged that the network pressured doctors to declare patients brain-dead so their organs could be transplanted.
McMahon, 50, also claimed network staffers were trained by marketing gurus how to pressure grieving families to sign consent forms to allow the body parts to be harvested.
The suit gave four examples, including patients later identified as Cheng, 32, and Carolyn Kelly, who died last November at Staten Island University Hospital at age 33.
Kelly’s mother, Margaret Barrett, said through tears her daughter was in a coma for 16 days and showed no signs of life before they agreed to take her off life support. She said she did not feel pressured into pulling the plug.
Cheng’s father applauded the suit, however, saying if the allegations were true in other cases, the network should change its ways.
“It’s better for everyone that [the lawsuit] comes out,” Charles Cheng said.
Norman Cheng said doctors repeatedly asked if the family would consent to have the organs donated, which he called “pretty annoying.” But he said they explained that was because they needed to be harvested before they deteriorated to the point where they would not be suitable for transplant.
“They really cared about preserving the organs,” he said.
One of McMahon’s lawyers dismissed the families’ versions of events.
“We understand why the families of NYODN’s victims would make those comments. But as the complaint alleges, the whole point here is that these families were provided with incomplete and inaccurate information at the most vulnerable of times,” said Alexander T. Coleman.
The network, meanwhile, issued a statement defending its work.
“The allegations made by a former employee are baseless and an affront to the work that the New York Organ Donor Network is doing . . . to save and improve the lives of New Yorkers.”
The network said it plays no role in determining whether patients are brain-dead, a decision only doctors can make.
The suit claimed that both Cheng and Kelly showed signs of brain activity after they were declared dead.
McMahon, a former combat nurse in Iraq and Afghanistan, told The Post he was fired in November after four months over his protests and that he’s “very traumatized” and has been seeing a psychiatrist.
The suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Additional reporting by Bob Fredericks