Posted on 06/04/2013 8:23:51 PM PDT by Morgana
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is refusing to intervene in a case of a young girl who needs a lung transplant as doctors have only given her weeks to live.
From a local news report:
The Newtown Square girl has been hospitalized for three months with end-stage cystic fibrosis.
Sarah is not giving up hope. She wants to be a singer, but needs a lung transplant to live. Her parents have been with her constantly while she waits at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
“She worries that she’s dying, because she’s not — she’s a smart kid. And she says to me, ‘Mommy, will I wake up tomorrow morning?’” said Janet Murnaghan.
Organ donation rules require adult lungs to be offered first to people over the age of 12. Sarah’s parents say that’s not fair.
“Rules are meant to be broken. My child is not a statistic. She’s a person,” said Janet.
Sebelius says she doesn’t want to intervene in the transplant case when other sick children are dying, but Sarah’s family says hey want the policy changed for all children awaiting a lung transplant, not just Sarah.
Sarah’s aunt Sharon Ruddock says older children should be eligible for adult lungs because so few pediatric lungs are available.
She says that would add just 20 children to the 1,600 people on the adult waiting list.
Sebelius has called for a review of transplant policies, but the Murnaghans says Sarah doesn’t have time for that
Sarah’s parents have launched a public relations campaign to try to get the rules changed and an online petition in support of Sarah has been created with thousands of supporters.
Congressman Patrick Meehan stepped in and sent a letter to the Secretary of Health and Human Services requesting that she address the tragic unfairness and act to give Sarah a chance at life.
Meanwhile, members of Congress asked Sebelius during a congressional hearing about Sarah’s case:
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rebuffed an appeal from Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., on behalf of a girl who needs a lung transplant but can’t get one because of a federal regulation that prevents her from qualifying for a transplant.
“Please, suspend the rules until we look at this policy,” Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., asked Sebelius during a House hearing Tuesday on behalf of Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old girl who needs a lung transplant. She can’t qualify for an adult lung transplant until the age of 12, according to federal regulations, but Sebelius has the authority to waive that rule on her behalf. The pediatric lungs for which she qualifies aren’t available.
“I would suggest, sir, that, again, this is an incredibly agonizing situation where someone lives and someone dies,” Sebelius replied. “The medical evidence and the transplant doctors who are making the rule — and have had the rule in place since 2005 making a delineation between pediatric and adult lungs, because lungs are different than other organs — that it’s based on the survivability [chances].”
Are the parents of this girl Republicans?
Dear LORD,
Please make a way where there is no way for this young girl. YOU promise, “I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not for evil to give you a future and a hope.
In JESUS name we pray. Amen.
Hope this bitch sleeps well at night. Some day she will pay the price herself.
I wouldnt be surprised if they are..if these parents were two lesbians this child would have already gotten the lungs..its not just about how supposedly adult lungs are not meant to be in young children, its what Sebelius said, “Someone lives and someone dies” she is basically saying that this child is going to die anyway so whats the point..this is how Obamacare is going to be run, if your old, or you don’t have a good chance of living a long life, they won’t bother taking care of you..its the true meaning of death panels
I wonder if the Organ Transplant bureaucracy is the same as it is at the IRS, EPA, etc., where conservatives are abused and Leftists are favored.
Too bad they were not Democrat Donors
It appears that helps, under Obama’s thuggery
Unfortunately, in this case I believe Sebelius is right, for a couple of reasons (one of which she didn’t mean to prove). First, who should be bumped down the list so this girl can get the transplant? If she gets it, almost certainly someone else will die. Lungs are kind of odd, in that they don’t last very long in transplant situations. They start degrading, unlike other transplanted organs. After 5 or so years, the patient will need another transplant. So, this may only be prolonging the inevitable.
Second, while Sebelius has the authority to suspend the transplant rules, do we really want to further set the precedent of bureaucrats making the decisions instead of qualified medical authorities? I though that was one of the main objections to Ocare. The more exceptions we make, the more exceptions *can* be made. This time it might be a young girl. Next time it might be someone with political connections, or with more money, or the right political beliefs. And worse, the person who is chosen to get bumped down the list might be someone with the wrong beliefs, or who donated to the “wrong” party. I’d much rather that kind of thing get decided by a doctor on the basis of whether the transplant makes medical sense, than on any other factor.
joining you in prayer.
Amen.
I think we need to get away from transplants and work on tactics to grow replacement organs from the patient’s own (adult) stem cells, but this is a bit OT for now, but I think if we break this barrier, we’d all be better off.
What would really make Americans sick is how many non US citizens and special minority status groups have jumped lines and received the care that should have gone to American citizens. We’ll never know because those stats will never be known or released.
Thank heaven for Sebelius! She’s so kind to do the work of an entire Obamacare Death Panel, all by herself.
So efficient and respectful of our tax money.
So refreshing.
Three cheers for Sebelius the Saver!
/s
I agree, in Jesus’ Healing Name, Amen
Remember when Dick Cheney got a new heart and all you heard in the media was how “He’s so old, how come he was able to get one” that is how the left views people, if your old or considered not to have a long life span they just want you dead, they consider you a burden on society.
I dont give a damn about these regulations I say they should go ahead and give this child the lungs..its worth the risk, this child is already at death’s door..if I were this child’s mother I would want to know that EVERYTHING was done to save her life..if she dies without them giving it a shot and finding out if it worked, they will have to live with that regret for the rest of their lives.
This is a tactic we should use every day against Obamacare. It's a sitting duck now,
I suppose that the parents will be getting a visit from the ATF, IRS, Justice Department and the FBI soon.
ling=lung (it’s getting late)
I wish the best for your mother..breast cancer is a tough illness but if she is anything like you I know she is a fighter and she will make it through this..this poor child, not wanting to go to bed at night because she is afraid she might not wake up tomorrow I cannot fathom that kind of fear. Sarah is worth the risk, you give her the lungs, period..and if God forbid she ends up dying anyway, at least they will know that everything was tried..if she dies and NOTHING is done, that will just kill these parents, having to wonder “What If?” She is sitting in that hospital bed dying..if they do nothing she is a goner..she is just lying there waiting to die..do something while there is still time
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