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Post by sadie1263 on Jan 8, 2009 19:11:46 GMT
I love this story. ************************************************* ABC News Medical Expert Says Surgeon's Quest for Kidney Compensation Is 'Soap Opera' Husband Says Wife Had Affair After He Gave Her His Kidney By SARAH NETTER
Jan. 8, 2009—
A New York surgeon's demand for the return of the kidney he donated to his now-estranged wife -- or at least $1.5 million for it -- has transplant experts wondering what he is thinking.
Richard Batista, a surgeon at Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, says that he is seeking compensation for the kidney he donated to his wife, Dawnell, in 2001. Richard Batista says she began having an extramarital affair after the transplant.
"There's no deeper pain or betrayal from somebody you loved and devoted your whole life to," he told reporters Wednesday.
Richard Batista said he went public with his request after becoming frustrated with ongoing divorce negotiations.
Dawnell Batista filed for divorce in 2005. The couple has three children, ages 14, 11 and 8.
Her attorney Douglas Rathkopf said in a statement obtained by WABC-TV in New York, "The facts aren't as represented by Dr. Batista. We will be addressing the issues before the judge within the next few days."
A woman who answered the phone at Rathkopf's office today said he had no further comment.
Dr. David Cronin, the director of liver transplantation at the Medical College of Wisconsin, has been performing liver, kidney and pancreas transplants for more than a decade. He says a price tag cannot be placed on a human organ.
"Any efforts that have been made to sell organs, broker organs & have come up and been squashed," he said about Richard Batista's legal tactic.
Cronin likened donations from live donors to a contract in which the donor agrees to give up the organ to the recipient and expect nothing in return.
The National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 says that an organ donation from a living donor is a gift and is not eligible for "valuable consideration."
Phone calls placed to both Richard and Dawnell Batista seeking comment were not immediately returned today.
Richard Batista, according to his profile with the Nassau Healthcare Corp., is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Cornell University Medical College.
'Just Foolish'
A representative for the National Kidney Foundation told ABCNews.com that the foundation did not want to comment on Richard Batista's request "because it's very individualistic, and we haven't come across anything like this before."
There have been ethical questions raised about donors receiving peripheral compensations such as travel and hotel expenses, but Cronin said those circumstances have generally been accepted by the medical community.
As far as Richard Batista's getting his kidney back from his soon-to-be ex? That isn't going to happen either, according to Cronin.
"That's just foolish," he said.
But if a judge were to award the surgeon compensation for the kidney specifically and not just divorce-related damages, that could challenge the notion of organs as gifts.
Cronin likened the whole story to a soap opera, calling it an "entertainment blip."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 8, 2009 20:26:41 GMT
the lad is off his rocker. he DONATED the kidney, as in gift. you cannot get bac, or compensated for, a gift
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Post by gg on Jan 9, 2009 0:27:05 GMT
the lad is off his rocker. he DONATED the kidney, as in gift. you cannot get bac, or compensated for, a gift If he's that torn up, he should at least get visitation rights
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Post by drewsmom595 on Jan 9, 2009 2:15:21 GMT
the lad is off his rocker. he DONATED the kidney, as in gift. you cannot get bac, or compensated for, a gift If he's that torn up, he should at least get visitation rights LOL!!!
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Post by whitedove on Jan 9, 2009 3:02:05 GMT
Like he's going to get his kidney back........NOT! This guy is an idiot needs to grow up and get a life!
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Post by agaveman on Jan 9, 2009 4:04:21 GMT
I support this guy. He'll lose in court, but he has a point. He gave the bytch his kidney, and then she cheated on him.
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Post by drewsmom595 on Jan 9, 2009 11:31:34 GMT
I can understand how betrayed this man must feel. He saved his wife's life at the expense of his own health, and then she goes and cheats on him.
However, I think it says volumes about his character to then go and put a dollar value on his kidney. Maybe he's just really angry and exasperated. But it is something I don't think I ever would've done.
Don't get me wrong. I would've been galled that my husband did that to me if he cheated on me after I saved his life. But to then take what is a very self-less gift and use it in such a smarmy way...no.
And agaveman is right...he'll definitely lose in court.
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 9, 2009 12:32:55 GMT
I support this guy. He'll lose in court, but he has a point. He gave the bytch his kidney, and then she cheated on him. the suit is meritless, but does have value. it drags her name through the mud, and shames her in front of millions rather than maybe a couple hundred, people
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Post by chefmate on Jan 9, 2009 14:23:29 GMT
gotta feel for the guy and can understand his point.......I doubt that he would have donated had he known she would go out and cheat.......then I would have let the witch die and bid farewell to another worthless human being
I think he is frustrated and at the least he has embarassed her in front of millions
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Post by mindy on Jan 9, 2009 17:47:40 GMT
I personally would donate my kidney to almost any human to save their life. A person's life is worth more than a stupid mistake. If the person then went and cheated on me, I would just simply end the relationship, not ask for my kidney back. This guy is so full of revenge and hatred it's sickening. He's being ridiculous.
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Post by sadie1263 on Jan 9, 2009 18:44:40 GMT
He definitely has dragged her thru the mud.........but you almost wonder if he hung this over her head on a constant basis........if she so much as argued with him he probably reminded her of it. He does come off looking like an idiot.
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Post by riotgrrl on Jan 9, 2009 19:33:35 GMT
I just saw the husband interviewed on TV, and he was talking about how hurt he felt.
Well, I can imagine that, and I empathise.
But the blood-suckers who have encouraged him to take this deep sense of hurt to court in this absurd action should hang their heads with shame. The husband is clearly emotionally vulnerable and upset - and why not. But his friends should get him away from the lawyers.
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Post by agaveman on Jan 9, 2009 19:52:00 GMT
Folks, most likely the husband here is rich, and the wife is seeking heavy alimony, probably in excess of 1.5 million. By asking for 1.5 million, the husband will offset the alimony he has to pay to this bytch, who probably doesn't work and has a man pay for her needs. In fact, the dude she cheated on her husband with very well might be the Dr. who helped her recover from her operation. But no matter. She is a filthy gold digging whore and her husband gave her a part of his body so she could live and this is how she treats him?! To hell with her
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Post by sadie1263 on Jan 9, 2009 20:19:12 GMT
Long Island doctor Richard Batista to estranged wife: Give me my kidney back or $1.5M
By LARRY McSHANE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Thursday, January 8th 2009, 2:30 AM
Dr. Richard Batista donated his kidney to his wife, Dawnell, in 2001.
Richard Batista can live with his broken heart. He just can't bear his cheating wife living with his healthy kidney.
The Long Island doctor wants the one-time love of his life to pay $1.5 million for the organ he bestowed on her eight years ago in a gift meant to save her life and their foundering marriage.
"There's no deeper pain you can ever express than to be betrayed by the person you devoted your life to," Batista told reporters in Garden City Wednesday.
"I saved her life. But the pain is unbearable."
Batista charged his wife, Dawnell, repaid his gesture by first sleeping with her physical therapist - and then denying him access to their three kids in an increasingly bitter divorce.
Adding to his anguish, Batista insists his decision to donate his kidney in 2001 was in part a failed effort to rescue their troubled relationship.
"My first priority was to save her life," the 49-year-old doctor said. "The second bonus was to turn our marriage around."
Dawnell Batista survived. Their marriage lasted just another four years, with the wife filing for divorce in July 2005.
The once-happy pair met two decades ago when he was a resident and she a training nurse at North Shore Hospital.
They were married in August 1990, celebrating with a lavish Long Island reception, and were soon living in a $1 million Massapequa home.
The couple shared the joy of three daughters, but Dawnell was battling kidney failure and the couple's relationship turned shaky.
Her husband - a surgeon at Nassau University Medical Center - injected her three times a week with medication as part of her health care regime.
Dawnell's health continued to deteriorate. After two transplants failed, her husband volunteered to donate one of his kidneys - and discovered he was a match, a 1-in-700,000 shot.
"I was the first and only one to step to the plate," the doctor recalled. Without his donation, Dawnell faced a long wait: There are 6,748 people awaiting kidneys in New York State, the New York Organ Donor Network says.
Successful surgery followed at a Minnesota hospital on June 28, 2001. Batista said he was looking forward to happier times with his now-healthy bride - but his hopes proved futile.
"Nothing changed," he said.
Dawnell Batista viewed the kidney as a new lease on life, too. She returned to school to earn a master's degree in nursing, and took up karate, her husband said.
After an injury suffered while trying to earn her black belt, she began physical therapy - which evolved into an affair with her therapist, Batista said.
"It put a hole in my heart that still exists," Batista said of his wife's disloyalty. "To this day, I'm a man of pride. To be betrayed that way, humiliated - I can't even began to say."
Dawnell Batista was not at her home Wednesday. Her lawyer did not return a call for comment.
Batista said the ongoing ugliness began on day one of their divorce.
"She slapped me with divorce papers when I was in surgery trying to save another person's life," he fumed.
The case was apparently the first of its kind in New York State. Julia Rivera of the New York Organ Donor Network said she never heard of anything similar.
"This is extraordinary," the spokeswoman said.
Batista insisted his cash-for-kidney claim was a direct result of his wife's behavior. He said he hasn't seen his three daughters - ages 14, 11 and 8 - in months.
"This is my last resort," Batista said. "I didn't want to be in the public eye."
Despite the animosity, Batista insisted he would donate the kidney all over again to his hopefully soon-to-be-ex. He fondly recalls a visit to her room on the day after surgery.
"There was no greater feeling on this planet," he said. "As God is my witness, I felt as if I could put my arm around Jesus Christ. I was walking on a cloud."
lmcshane@nydailynews.com
With Heidi Evans
*********************************************
In this article he admits their marriage was in trouble before the transplant. Also states they met when he was an intern and she was a training nurse. In all probability she supported him at that time. I just see a marriage that ran its course and like so many others instead of ending it with any dignity they are going to just inflict as much damage as possible to themselves and everyone around them. I don't feel sorry for either of them but I hope the kids are tough.
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Post by agaveman on Jan 9, 2009 20:22:13 GMT
Batista charged his wife, Dawnell, repaid his gesture by first sleeping with her physical therapist -. LOL! Read my post above!
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Post by drewsmom595 on Jan 10, 2009 0:56:06 GMT
Batista charged his wife, Dawnell, repaid his gesture by first sleeping with her physical therapist -. LOL! Read my post above! You are amazingly psychic!!! You practically predicted it! ;D
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 10, 2009 12:45:23 GMT
I just saw the husband interviewed on TV, and he was talking about how hurt he felt. Well, I can imagine that, and I empathise. But the blood-suckers who have encouraged him to take this deep sense of hurt to court in this absurd action should hang their heads with shame. The husband is clearly emotionally vulnerable and upset - and why not. But his friends should get him away from the lawyers. don't lay it on the lawyers hon. NO attorney would touch something like this on contingency. this lad has money, and sought out the lawyer. i'm sure the attorney told him the odds of winning are zilch, but as long as he wants to spend the money to villify her, thats his perogative.
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Post by iamjumbo on Jan 10, 2009 12:50:34 GMT
Folks, most likely the husband here is rich, and the wife is seeking heavy alimony, probably in excess of 1.5 million. By asking for 1.5 million, the husband will offset the alimony he has to pay to this bytch, who probably doesn't work and has a man pay for her needs. In fact, the dude she cheated on her husband with very well might be the Dr. who helped her recover from her operation. But no matter. She is a filthy gold digging whore and her husband gave her a part of his body so she could live and this is how she treats him?! To hell with her you are correct,except, i seriously doubt that she would be asking for alimony. if he can prove the adultery, any alimony claim would be a non starter everything else is true. she deserves the worst that happens
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Post by sadie1263 on Jan 10, 2009 16:11:08 GMT
OMG.....they were married for 25 years.........met while he was an intern. How does that make her a gold digger? ? It's stated they were having problems before the organ donation.....what was she supposed to do......stay with him and both be miserable for the rest of their lives. He doesn't sound like a peach and she wasn't faithful. This is simply a case of two divorced people destroying everything in their path to hurt the other. If there is a lot of money involved lawyers are only too happy to help them do it and use up that money.
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Post by agaveman on Jan 10, 2009 19:18:54 GMT
Folks, most likely the husband here is rich, and the wife is seeking heavy alimony, probably in excess of 1.5 million. By asking for 1.5 million, the husband will offset the alimony he has to pay to this bytch, who probably doesn't work and has a man pay for her needs. In fact, the dude she cheated on her husband with very well might be the Dr. who helped her recover from her operation. But no matter. She is a filthy gold digging whore and her husband gave her a part of his body so she could live and this is how she treats him?! To hell with her you are correct,except, i seriously doubt that she would be asking for alimony. if he can prove the adultery, any alimony claim would be a non starter I'm sure the whore is asking for something as leverage to a settlement. Whether she prevails in court is matter of state law that I am unfamiliar with and too lazy to research at the moment. I wonder if they will settle rather than fight it out in court? What would really be cool is if they allowed the husband (who is a surgeon) to remove the kidney himself.
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