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
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.
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.
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.
Medical notes suggest she started drinking in her late teens and had tried – unsuccessfully – to quit. After periods of sobriety, she returned to alcohol, which could increase the risk of continued use after the transplant.
Allen says Huska registered for an addiction program early on in her hospital stay to stop drinking after she’s discharged. Hospital records also say she suffers from anxiety.
From the first article CTV made about this, linked in in the first sentence they posted. Seems like we need to actually fund mental health care in this country or something, because she’s obviously been struggling for a while. You can see how the board would weigh previous failed attempts to quit against her.
Lol I quoted something from not just this article, but a second article they link to from the one above, but sure.
They blocked her, at least in part, because she was an active alcoholic who had not shown any signs of changing her behaviour outside of time inside the hospital. Something that would have weighed on their decision included medical information such as previous attempts to stop drinking. Mental health care, including healthcare for addictions, is lacking in Canada. You can’t force someone to go into rehab, but offering better care and options might have helped her in the past.
As said in the main article as well as the one I read, in order to qualify for a living donation you need to qualify for a full donation, because if something goes wrong you’ll need a full liver ASAP and get bumped to the top of the list.
Are you trying to argue that alcoholism shouldn’t be a factor AT ALL for liver donations, or that living donations shouldn’t also need to meet the standard full liver donation standards?
I completely disagree. People should be able to make mistakes.
You are allowed to make mistakes… What you are not allowed to do is skip the consequences
It’s not like you can pick a liver at Walmart and give it a try. That liver could save someone else, giving it to an alcoholic is likely to only buy her a tad more time untill she relapsed
Removed by mod
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
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?
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.
Removed by mod
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.
Removed by mod
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?
From the first article CTV made about this, linked in in the first sentence they posted. Seems like we need to actually fund mental health care in this country or something, because she’s obviously been struggling for a while. You can see how the board would weigh previous failed attempts to quit against her.
Removed by mod
Lol I quoted something from not just this article, but a second article they link to from the one above, but sure.
They blocked her, at least in part, because she was an active alcoholic who had not shown any signs of changing her behaviour outside of time inside the hospital. Something that would have weighed on their decision included medical information such as previous attempts to stop drinking. Mental health care, including healthcare for addictions, is lacking in Canada. You can’t force someone to go into rehab, but offering better care and options might have helped her in the past.
As said in the main article as well as the one I read, in order to qualify for a living donation you need to qualify for a full donation, because if something goes wrong you’ll need a full liver ASAP and get bumped to the top of the list.
Removed by mod
Are you trying to argue that alcoholism shouldn’t be a factor AT ALL for liver donations, or that living donations shouldn’t also need to meet the standard full liver donation standards?
Removed by mod
You are allowed to make mistakes… What you are not allowed to do is skip the consequences
It’s not like you can pick a liver at Walmart and give it a try. That liver could save someone else, giving it to an alcoholic is likely to only buy her a tad more time untill she relapsed