UPMC sued over botched kidney transplant

A Greene County couple involved in a botched kidney transplant that led to a two-month shutdown of UPMC's living donor kidney and liver transplant programs -- and to state and federal investigations -- filed two malpractice lawsuits this week in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Christina Mecannic and Michael Yocabet sued UPMC, University of Pittsburgh Physicians, four doctors and one nurse after federal investigators determined that an entire transplant team missed a test result that showed Mecannic was infected with hepatitis C when her kidney was transplanted into Yocabet on April 6. The 12-count lawsuits allege acts of professional negligence, corporate negligence, intentional and negligent misrepresentation, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. They ask for compensatory and punitive damages but do not ask for a specific amount. The lawsuits ask for a jury trial.