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American Morning

Autopsy Scheduled Today for 17-Year-Old Jesica Santillan

Aired February 24, 2003 - 08:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: An autopsy is scheduled today for 17- year-old Jesica Santillan. Jesica survived a botched heart/lung transplant, but died on Saturday, two days after receiving a second set of organs. The family wants to know why doctors at Duke University Hospital decided to take Jesica off life support.
Joining us now from Durham, North Carolina, Kurt Dixon, an attorney for the Santillan family. And we note that the hospital was invited to provide a spokesman or a spokeswoman. They were not able to do so today.

Mr. Dixon, welcome.

Thanks for joining us.

KURT DIXON, SANTILLAN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Thank you.

It's good to be here.

ZAHN: Does Jesica's family plan to sue Duke University?

DIXON: Well, we haven't had any in depth discussion about that right now. We are in the process of investigating the case. We are supposed to get the medical records today from Duke and we are going to take a very good look at those. We're going to have to wait for the autopsy result.

Once that happens we'll sit down and fully inform the family of what we learned that had happened, what their rights are and what they might expect and the decision will be up to them.

ZAHN: Dr. Jaggers, who was Jesica's surgeon, had this to say upon informing the public about what had gone wrong.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES JAGGERS, JESICA'S SURGEON: Unfortunately in this case, a mistake was made. As Jesica's surgeon, I take responsibility for those errors and I take responsibility for the entire team. After the first transplant, I spoke to Jesica's family and told them of this error, but then I did everything possible to save Jesica's life, including another heart and lung transplant.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: Do you think Dr. Jaggers and his team was absolutely forthright with the family about Jesica's condition and what might lie ahead?

DIXON: Well, I really can't comment on that because I don't have access to the medical records. They've been requested for a while and we're supposed to get them today. That's one of the things that will determine whether that forthrightness was there or not.

ZAHN: What do you suspect at this hour?

DIXON: Well, I really don't know and I don't want to speculate. We just need the facts and the records will help us there.

ZAHN: I know you have also said that Jesica's family did not want her removed from the ventilator until they had a second opinion. In the end, the family never obtained a second opinion, the hospital spokesperson saying that they really didn't push for it. You believe a second opinion was critical.

Why?

DIXON: Well, I believe it was critical because they wanted it. When a family has a daughter who's dying on life support and after what they'd been through with the first transplant, if they want a second opinion, they're entitled to it and they should have gotten it. And they did request it.

ZAHN: Mr. Dixon, we're going to have to leave it there this morning.

Thank you very much for joining us.

We're going to turn now to our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, for his perspective on this case.

You heard what Mr. Dixon just had to say about the evaluations that have to be made of medical records before the family decides to file suit.

Do they have a good suit here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think they are going to file a lawsuit and I think there are problems with this case. There is always the possibility that Jesica would have died anyway. But the error here was so dramatic and so problem and there's so much sympathy for Jesica, look for Duke University to do everything possible to settles this case early. Don't let it in front of a jury and just make it go away.

ZAHN: As illegal aliens, does this family have the same rights as any other taxpaying American family or is that going to play ultimately into any kind of settlement that is made here?

TOOBIN: It could play into the amount of damages. It doesn't really have any relevance to the question of whether malpractice was committed. Illegal aliens have the same right to be treated well as everyone else.

ZAHN: Sure.

TOOBIN: But in terms of damages, it could be a reduction -- it could lead to somewhat less of an award. But, again, Duke does not want to get into a fight with Jesica's family at this point. They've been battered enough. I think the negotiating leverage here, regardless of the legal niceties, is all with Jesica's family.

ZAHN: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for your insights.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 24, 2003 - 08:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: An autopsy is scheduled today for 17- year-old Jesica Santillan. Jesica survived a botched heart/lung transplant, but died on Saturday, two days after receiving a second set of organs. The family wants to know why doctors at Duke University Hospital decided to take Jesica off life support.
Joining us now from Durham, North Carolina, Kurt Dixon, an attorney for the Santillan family. And we note that the hospital was invited to provide a spokesman or a spokeswoman. They were not able to do so today.

Mr. Dixon, welcome.

Thanks for joining us.

KURT DIXON, SANTILLAN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Thank you.

It's good to be here.

ZAHN: Does Jesica's family plan to sue Duke University?

DIXON: Well, we haven't had any in depth discussion about that right now. We are in the process of investigating the case. We are supposed to get the medical records today from Duke and we are going to take a very good look at those. We're going to have to wait for the autopsy result.

Once that happens we'll sit down and fully inform the family of what we learned that had happened, what their rights are and what they might expect and the decision will be up to them.

ZAHN: Dr. Jaggers, who was Jesica's surgeon, had this to say upon informing the public about what had gone wrong.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES JAGGERS, JESICA'S SURGEON: Unfortunately in this case, a mistake was made. As Jesica's surgeon, I take responsibility for those errors and I take responsibility for the entire team. After the first transplant, I spoke to Jesica's family and told them of this error, but then I did everything possible to save Jesica's life, including another heart and lung transplant.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: Do you think Dr. Jaggers and his team was absolutely forthright with the family about Jesica's condition and what might lie ahead?

DIXON: Well, I really can't comment on that because I don't have access to the medical records. They've been requested for a while and we're supposed to get them today. That's one of the things that will determine whether that forthrightness was there or not.

ZAHN: What do you suspect at this hour?

DIXON: Well, I really don't know and I don't want to speculate. We just need the facts and the records will help us there.

ZAHN: I know you have also said that Jesica's family did not want her removed from the ventilator until they had a second opinion. In the end, the family never obtained a second opinion, the hospital spokesperson saying that they really didn't push for it. You believe a second opinion was critical.

Why?

DIXON: Well, I believe it was critical because they wanted it. When a family has a daughter who's dying on life support and after what they'd been through with the first transplant, if they want a second opinion, they're entitled to it and they should have gotten it. And they did request it.

ZAHN: Mr. Dixon, we're going to have to leave it there this morning.

Thank you very much for joining us.

We're going to turn now to our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, for his perspective on this case.

You heard what Mr. Dixon just had to say about the evaluations that have to be made of medical records before the family decides to file suit.

Do they have a good suit here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think they are going to file a lawsuit and I think there are problems with this case. There is always the possibility that Jesica would have died anyway. But the error here was so dramatic and so problem and there's so much sympathy for Jesica, look for Duke University to do everything possible to settles this case early. Don't let it in front of a jury and just make it go away.

ZAHN: As illegal aliens, does this family have the same rights as any other taxpaying American family or is that going to play ultimately into any kind of settlement that is made here?

TOOBIN: It could play into the amount of damages. It doesn't really have any relevance to the question of whether malpractice was committed. Illegal aliens have the same right to be treated well as everyone else.

ZAHN: Sure.

TOOBIN: But in terms of damages, it could be a reduction -- it could lead to somewhat less of an award. But, again, Duke does not want to get into a fight with Jesica's family at this point. They've been battered enough. I think the negotiating leverage here, regardless of the legal niceties, is all with Jesica's family.

ZAHN: Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for your insights.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com