The sister of a patient who died following a heart transplant procedure is suing the hospital and several physicians for medical malpractice. In the lawsuit, hospital employees are accused of negligence, dishonesty and keeping the patient on life support for years only to pad their own statistics.
Darryl Young underwent the heart transplant at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in 2018 after battling congestive heart failure for years. He suffered brain damage during the procedure, however, and never woke up, dying in 2022.
Ashley Young’s lawsuit—available here—names the hospital, RWJ Barnabas Health, cardiologist Mark Zucker, MD, and several other care providers involved in the case as defendants.
ProPublica, a nonprofit news publication, has tracked this case over the years with multiple investigations. While the most recent report focuses on Ashley Young’s lawsuit, a previous investigation took on the entire incident, resulting in the case receiving a significant amount of attention. That report included evidence that employees had openly discussed the need to keep him alive for the hospital’s benefit. Ashley Young’s new lawsuit highlights this evidence, in addition to other allegations.