Question about girl denied lung transplant. Does the deniel have anything to do with Obama

[auburngrad82]

34. Then every wealthy alcoholic who needed a new liver would be able to buy their way to the top

of the list, even though there were people who needed that liver just as badly.

The rules are established to prevent abuse and to protect people.

As was stated earlier in this thread, the girl is at the top of the list for a child's lung. As was also stated earlier, the use of an adult lung in a child of her age would be very complicated. What happens if they use the adult lung, cut it down to size to fit the child, and then it fails? She's back to square one and that lung could have been used for an adult who needed it is no longer available.

Do you think that if a person can afford to pay for a transplant that might not work because of problems such as, in this case, incompatible size, that their ability to pay for it trumps the needs of everyone else? That was the root of the controversy involving Mickey Mantle's liver transplant. He may not have purchased his way to the top of the list but it appeared that he did and many people were upset that a life long alcoholic would be moved up the list ahead of other people. People felt it was his fame that moved him up the list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mantle#Illness_and_death

"Mantle received a liver transplant at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, on June 8, 1995. His liver was severely damaged by alcohol-induced cirrhosis, as well as hepatitis C. Prior to the operation, doctors also discovered he had inoperable liver cancer known as an undifferentiated hepatocellular carcinoma, further facilitating the need for a transplant. In July, he had recovered enough to deliver a press conference at Baylor, and noted that many fans had looked to him as a role model. "This is a role model: Don't be like me," a frail Mantle said. He also established the Mickey Mantle Foundation to raise awareness for organ donations. Soon, he was back in the hospital, where it was found that his cancer was rapidly spreading throughout his body.

"Though Mantle was very popular, his liver transplant was a source of some controversy. Some felt that his fame had permitted him to receive a donor liver in just one day, bypassing other patients who had been waiting for much longer. Mantle's doctors insisted that the decision was based solely on medical criteria, but acknowledged that the very short wait created the appearance of favoritism."