Questions are being raised about the case of a 36-year-old Ontario woman who died of liver failure after she was rejected for a life-saving liver transplant after a medical review highlighted her prior alcohol use.
That would be nice if we had an unlimited supply of livers to transplant. Give everyone a chance.
Unfortunately I’d still rather give whatever liver we have on hand to someone guaranteed not to wreck it immediately, because giving her a chance means taking away someone else’s.
No, not in this case, they weren’t taking away someone else’s chance. But you didn’t read the article. Her boyfriend was a match and wanted to donate part of his liver. Donar A wanted to give to recipient B, there was no recipient C losing out. It was a closed loop.
“No amount of determination from the (partner) could bend the decision,” said the physician. “There was no process for a second review or appeal. Just a harsh finality … goodbye.”
She many have not even been the drunkard you all are assuming she was. If you go out once a month, and have 3 or 4 beers, you’re not eligible for a liver transplant. That’s ridiculous. You may not drink the other 30 days of the month, but that one Saturday ruined it for you; you die.
A life was forfeit, because some bean counters in white coats -probably not teetotalers themselves- deemed her not worthy. Even though it cost more to let her die,
Using the most recent data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information on hospital bed costs (2016), Huska’s time at the Oakville hospital likely cost over $450,000 - ($3,592 per day for ICU care) with an additional 61 days in a ward bed which likely cost about $1,200 a day
A liver transplant in Ontario is pegged at about $71,000 to $100,000 in Ontario based on data from 2019.
That is because her boyfriend could only give her a partial transplant (he cannot donate his whole liver) and the doctors did not think it would work as her liver was too far gone to recover with a partial transplant
The rest of your comment is so far from reality or logic, I’m not going to bother addressing it
Cutting out someone’s liver to transplant isn’t easy nor risk free. You are risking death to have a low probability of saving someone. It doesn’t matter if they are volunteers.
Isn’t it about her chance to get one though? “There was no process for a second review or appeal.”
You have a window were you can’t drink any alcohol for biological safety reasons, but in this case the mere rule of not drinking alcohol was enforced. This makes it a punishment instead of some biological requirement.
Some time ago I had to go under general anesthesia to have some teeth pulled. Local anesthesia didn’t work. I wasn’t allowed to eat for 24 hours. But I was so hungry that I ate just enough to not have stomach pain anymore. In the hospital I said I ate a tiny bit, and they said that it wouldn’t be much of a problem if I only ate a bit. Compared to the OP story, I wasn’t punished because I was still within the safe window.
Why should somebody get punished by a hospital? They should be neutral. “Oh you drank alcohol? You’ll have to come back later because of safety reason”. They shouldn’t be the judge. Giving them that power is just stupid.
I assume you were not getting a transplant? The risks of regurgitation during surgery is in no way comparable to the risk of relapse in someone with hx alcohol use disorder in early remission. Addiction is a terrible beast. I am sad that she died too, but we have to blame the systems of addiction, not the medical board.
Transplant guidelines in Ontario and much of Canada require patients with ALD to first qualify for a deceased donor liver. If they don’t meet that criteria, they aren’t considered for a living liver transplant, even if one is available.
It was perfectly possible with her partners liver. This is just “no you didn’t do what we want so we just let you die”, and you’re here trying to justify that.
Her partner is the one saying she had an alcohol substance use issue. It’s not “assumed” she was a drunkard, he stated it. I agree she should have been given the liver- she quit alcohol, she had a donor. We shouldn’t punish people with alcohol use issues by killing them.
The liver wasn’t thrown away, it was given to someone else. The liver still saved a life, unfortunately it wasn’t hers.
Unless you’re talking about the boyfriend’s liver, in which case the doctor determined her condition would not survive a partial transplant, and the attempt would just kill her sooner.
That would be nice if we had an unlimited supply of livers to transplant. Give everyone a chance.
Unfortunately I’d still rather give whatever liver we have on hand to someone guaranteed not to wreck it immediately, because giving her a chance means taking away someone else’s.
No, not in this case, they weren’t taking away someone else’s chance. But you didn’t read the article. Her boyfriend was a match and wanted to donate part of his liver. Donar A wanted to give to recipient B, there was no recipient C losing out. It was a closed loop.
She many have not even been the drunkard you all are assuming she was. If you go out once a month, and have 3 or 4 beers, you’re not eligible for a liver transplant. That’s ridiculous. You may not drink the other 30 days of the month, but that one Saturday ruined it for you; you die.
A life was forfeit, because some bean counters in white coats -probably not teetotalers themselves- deemed her not worthy. Even though it cost more to let her die,
A liver transplant in Ontario is pegged at about $71,000 to $100,000 in Ontario based on data from 2019.
That is because her boyfriend could only give her a partial transplant (he cannot donate his whole liver) and the doctors did not think it would work as her liver was too far gone to recover with a partial transplant
The rest of your comment is so far from reality or logic, I’m not going to bother addressing it
Cutting out someone’s liver to transplant isn’t easy nor risk free. You are risking death to have a low probability of saving someone. It doesn’t matter if they are volunteers.
Isn’t it about her chance to get one though? “There was no process for a second review or appeal.”
You have a window were you can’t drink any alcohol for biological safety reasons, but in this case the mere rule of not drinking alcohol was enforced. This makes it a punishment instead of some biological requirement.
Some time ago I had to go under general anesthesia to have some teeth pulled. Local anesthesia didn’t work. I wasn’t allowed to eat for 24 hours. But I was so hungry that I ate just enough to not have stomach pain anymore. In the hospital I said I ate a tiny bit, and they said that it wouldn’t be much of a problem if I only ate a bit. Compared to the OP story, I wasn’t punished because I was still within the safe window.
Why should somebody get punished by a hospital? They should be neutral. “Oh you drank alcohol? You’ll have to come back later because of safety reason”. They shouldn’t be the judge. Giving them that power is just stupid.
I assume you were not getting a transplant? The risks of regurgitation during surgery is in no way comparable to the risk of relapse in someone with hx alcohol use disorder in early remission. Addiction is a terrible beast. I am sad that she died too, but we have to blame the systems of addiction, not the medical board.
Nope. This seems like a stupid rule.
It was perfectly possible with her partners liver. This is just “no you didn’t do what we want so we just let you die”, and you’re here trying to justify that.
okay doctor. can you think of a reason why they aren’t considered for a living donor? besides corruption and malfeasance?
Doctors are cops. Acab.
Adab
Oh, way to move the goal posts!
Basically - fuck this person, right?
Her partner is the one saying she had an alcohol substance use issue. It’s not “assumed” she was a drunkard, he stated it. I agree she should have been given the liver- she quit alcohol, she had a donor. We shouldn’t punish people with alcohol use issues by killing them.
The liver wasn’t thrown away, it was given to someone else. The liver still saved a life, unfortunately it wasn’t hers.
Unless you’re talking about the boyfriend’s liver, in which case the doctor determined her condition would not survive a partial transplant, and the attempt would just kill her sooner.
I was talking about the general disturbing nature of determining organ transplants, yes I know re: the live donation from her bf
So again: The liver wasn’t thrown away, it was given to someone else. The liver still saved a life, unfortunately it wasn’t hers.
Imagine being the person denied a liver because they gave it to someone with a chronic alcohol abuse problem to “give them another chance”.
No I meant her boyfriend had a partial liver he wanted to give her
Which is it?