How Rosenbaum Exploited The Organ Donation System For Profit

Levy Izhak Rosenbaum isn't a household name, but it is one that we should become more familiar with. He's one of the 44 people busted in the massive New Jersey corruption probe that netted more than a dozen politicians, including the mayors of Hoboken, Secaucus and Ridgefield.

Yet, Rosenbaum wasn't arrested on corruption charges.

He was arrested for concocting a scheme that sold kidneys for profit. How he did it is instructive in how some people have figured out how to game the system of organ donations.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people go on waiting lists for transplants. Many never get that gift of life because of the shortage of organs. United Network For Organ Sharing (UNOS), was set up to match donors with patients needing transplants. Currently, more than 100,000 are waiting for transplants. Nearly 4,500 donors during the first quarter of 2009 provided organs to nearly 10,000 patients.

If you're one of those who needs an organ and you see those kinds of numbers, you might wonder how to improve your odds.

Rosenbaum apparently figured out how. He figured that hospitals wouldn't look that closely at the backstories of those offering up their kidneys to needy patients.

Mark McCarren, a New Jersey federal prosecutor involved in the case, said Rosenbaum indicated that the transplants he brokered took place at more than one U.S. hospital and that the hospitals were duped and were not in on the scheme.

According to prosecutors, Rosenbaum was shockingly familiar with the U.S. system and how to beat it. Sellers and recipients would concoct stories about being relatives or friends to fool hospitals into thinking no money was changing hands, McCarren said.

McCarren said investigators are seeking evidence of kidney sales brokered by Rosenbaum. Hospital employees could face criminal charges if they knowingly participated in a transplant involving a purchased kidney.

Rosenbaum's attorney, Ronald Kleinberg, was in court Wednesday and not immediately available for comment, a secretary said.

Medicare, which pays for some organ transplants, requires hospitals to have someone evaluate living donors to make sure they understand the process and aren't being coerced or paid. Violators risk losing Medicare dollars.

But Donna Luebke, a nurse practitioner and former board member at the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit group that runs the nation's organ transplant system, said many hospitals use staffers who might not look too hard for red flags.

She said there are "too many conflicts of interest" if the staffer isn't truly independent.

On average, a kidney transplant in the U.S. resulted in $259,000 in medical bills last year, according to the Milliman consulting firm. Hospitals and doctors are reimbursed an average of $80,000 to $100,000 by private insurers, said transplant specialist Dr. Thomas Diflo of New York University.

The organ transplant system isn't perfect, but it does rely on people to adhere to the moral and ethical guidelines so that the system is not gamed, let alone abused for profit.