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Policy Makes Lung Transplant Out of Reach for 10-Year-Old
ABC news ^ | May 29, 2013 | Sydney Lupkin

Posted on 05/29/2013 2:51:51 PM PDT by Wanderer99

If Sarah Murnaghan were 12 years old, she would be at the top of the adult lung transplant list because she only has weeks to live and a lung transplant would as-good-as cure her of cystic fibrosis.

But she's not 12, and if she doesn't get new lungs, she might not even make it to 11.

"We are not asking for preference for Sarah, we are asking for equality," Sarah's mother, Janet Murnaghan, said in a press release. "We strongly believe Sarah should be triaged based on the severity of her illness, not her age."

Organ Donation: Should Younger Patients Get Better Kidneys?

The Murnaghan family of Newtown Square, Pa., is fighting a little known organ transplant policy that is effectively pushing 10-year-old Sarah to the bottom of the adult transplant waiting list because it mandates that adult lungs be offered to all adult patients before they can be offered to someone under 12 years old.

(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: child; kathleensebelius; organ; pennsylvania; sarahmurnaghan; transplant
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Instead the lungs will probably be going to some 50 year old illegal immigrant on the sex offender registry who smokes 3 packs a day.

The younger and more innocent the person, the less valuable the life is. The younger you are, the closer you are to being legally killable.

If this were my daughter, I'd start shooting administrators ever hour until the organ arrived and surgery was completed.

1 posted on 05/29/2013 2:51:51 PM PDT by Wanderer99
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To: Wanderer99

Wrong political party of the parents, so the child must
die according to the IRS. THANK YOU, Mitt Romney.


2 posted on 05/29/2013 2:53:21 PM PDT by Diogenesis
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To: Wanderer99
Sadly, many parents who have chronically, and terminally ill children voted for Obama. Little do these idiots know they condemned their own children to a death sentence under their Dear Leader. They will sacrifice all to their false gods in the government.

F-ing Fools!

3 posted on 05/29/2013 2:57:11 PM PDT by Artcore
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To: Wanderer99

Her mom was on FNC this morning. She said giving her daughter an adult lung is a more complicated procedure. It has to be reduced to 40% of it’s size.


4 posted on 05/29/2013 2:59:26 PM PDT by Retired Chemist
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To: Wanderer99

Too old???


5 posted on 05/29/2013 2:59:45 PM PDT by Cyman
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To: Wanderer99
goobermint bosses cannot judge how sick people are, but they can figure out how old they are. So for their lack of being a doctor, she will die. Welcome to Fascism.
6 posted on 05/29/2013 3:07:30 PM PDT by American in Israel (A wise man's heart directs him to the right, but the foolish mans heart directs him toward the left.)
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To: American in Israel

Too young to vote for the ‘rats. If she dies before her eighteenth birthday, she will be registered and vote Democrat into eternity.


7 posted on 05/29/2013 3:18:05 PM PDT by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
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To: American in Israel

Too young to vote for the ‘rats. If she dies before her eighteenth birthday, she will be registered and vote Democrat into eternity.


8 posted on 05/29/2013 3:18:06 PM PDT by reg45 (Barack 0bama: Implementing class warfare by having no class.)
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To: Wanderer99

How come no family members have stepped up to donate a lobe for a live transplant???


9 posted on 05/29/2013 3:24:04 PM PDT by Valpal1 (If the police canÂ’t solve a problem with brute force, theyÂ’ll find a way to fix it with brute forc)
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To: Wanderer99

Wait until Obamacare kicks in. That number would then be 15 yrs old and under.


10 posted on 05/29/2013 3:56:15 PM PDT by stilloftyhenight
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To: Retired Chemist

It isn’t just because of her age. An adult lung would be too large. She needs a child’s lung. That seems to be lost in the emotional response to this unfortunate child.


11 posted on 05/29/2013 3:59:09 PM PDT by stilloftyhenight
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To: Wanderer99

I’ll bet you dollars to donuts they voted for the Obamafascist and thought Obamacare would give them what they need. The bad news is they are gonna let good people die.


12 posted on 05/29/2013 4:01:55 PM PDT by stockpirate (F. Douglass, "A man's rights rest in three boxes: ballot box, jury box, and ammo box)
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To: stockpirate
I’ll bet you dollars to donuts they voted for the Obamafascist and thought Obamacare would give them what they need.

On what basis are you drawing this conclusion?

13 posted on 05/29/2013 4:08:35 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: Retired Chemist

Thanks for info re reducing size of adult lung. I wondered whether there might, in fact, be a reasonable medical reason to not transplant patients under 12. Would a lung from a dying child or pre-teen be suitable for an adult?

I’d hate to be the person calling these difficult shots.


14 posted on 05/29/2013 4:17:33 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely expressed as advice)
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To: Wanderer99

“Instead the lungs will probably be going to some 50 year old illegal immigrant on the sex offender registry who smokes 3 packs a day”
Already happened here in Oregon. The illegal was in jail on some serious rape charges and received a very expensive transplant. Young Oregon resident girl was denied a transplant and died.

Also noted Oregon is just off the bottom at 44th in economic developement.

If you voted for Obama you are either ignorant or evil. Same if you vote democrat.


15 posted on 05/29/2013 4:22:29 PM PDT by Cold Heart
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To: Retired Chemist

Given this information, the age restriction is actually reasonable. There are adults who need the lungs, as well as children, so donor lungs won’t go to waste. But if they trim it, it might fail - and she may need a new one when grown up, demanding two sets of organs that would otherwise save two lives.


16 posted on 05/29/2013 5:19:13 PM PDT by tbw2
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To: Wanderer99

I don’t get this. The children’s hospital I work at does lung transplants quite often. What’s the problem here?


17 posted on 05/29/2013 5:34:58 PM PDT by surroundedbyblue (Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
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To: Veto!

In my limited experience as a nurse anesthetist, lungs are size-matched, as are livers. So if a small framed 50 yr old woman (for example) dies, a child of comparable size could get the organ

Something about this story isn’t making sense to me. I’ve worked with these patients in the OR and dated a transplant surgeon for several years. I don’t know everything, but something about this seems off


18 posted on 05/29/2013 5:39:07 PM PDT by surroundedbyblue (Why am I both pro-life & pro-gun? Because both positions defend the innocent and protect the weak.)
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To: Valpal1
How come no family members have stepped up to donate a lobe for a live transplant???

It's possible that none of them are compatible.
19 posted on 05/30/2013 1:16:37 PM PDT by Wanderer99
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To: stilloftyhenight
It isn’t just because of her age. An adult lung would be too large. She needs a child’s lung. That seems to be lost in the emotional response to this unfortunate child.

That was not the official legal reason for the denial.
20 posted on 05/30/2013 1:18:44 PM PDT by Wanderer99
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