Posted on 06/05/2013 2:34:10 PM PDT by blueyon
Edited on 06/05/2013 2:46:14 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary to suspend existing organ allocation rules to give a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl a better chance at a life-saving lung transplant.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson told Kathleen Sebelius to direct the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, or OPTN, to make an exception to the so-called "Under-12" rule as it applies to Sarah Murnaghan, who has end-stage cystic fibrosis, for at least 10 days, until a hearing on June 14. That move means that the girl can be considered more quickly for organs as an adult, instead of being limited to the pediatric transplant list.
The ruling, which grants a temporary restraining order, applies only to Sarah, although Baylson indicated that he would consider a similar move for another child in Sarah's circumstances, if a family presented the case in court.
Carp, no it didn’t. That is so annoying, because it’s such a great line that I stole from another FReeper.
Very bad precedent.
I have never heard from a knowledgeable source anything about nepotism, favoritism, cronyism, or the sort in the US organ transplant bureaucracy. I have spent several years working in the health benefits field, have gone through the process from the insurer’s side of the table, and while I have seen a woman die for not getting a suitable transplant in time, I have never seen a person bumped up the list by a judicial decree.
Why would freepers applaud this new cronyist system where apparently any two bit judge can decide life or death decisions instead of the medical professionals who have spent their careers building up the most sustainable organ transplant system in human history?
This girl’s family have taken a utilitarian approach to save their daughter, t is the political operators and media operators who have exploited this family for sensationalist demagoguery, and freepers and just about everyone I have talked to this about, have been suckered into this hook, line and sinker.
People die. Children die. Safer motor vehicles and less motor vehicle fatalities have led to lower numbers of donors, state level politicians have refused recommendations to create opt out system for organ donation on driver’s licenses have further reduced available organs.
Creating a cronyist system through judicial decree will lead to utilitarian legal precedents that will abut utilitarian biol-totalitarian arguments for universal forced organ donation, against personal, family, and religious objections.
The arguments being made on FoxNews are going to force life or death decisions out of a multigenerational established medical community, erasing the institutional memory of the doctors and administrators who spend their lives working on this, and into the hands of namely politically appointed bureaucrats, the exact opposite of what I hope everyone on FR would want.
its good news but why does a judge have this much power?.....judges should not be making up laws....
Not one objection to this ruling is substantiated by any documented data.
>>Wow, the fact that this is even an issue that the Government and the Courts are involved with is truly chilling to the bone.<<
EXACTLY right. Everybody’s cheering on the girl, and rightly so. But let’s step back and ook at the bigger picture.
We are ALL going to be faceless numbers, just like the Communists see their slaves.
“People are getting way too uptight about this. The judge ruled that the age limit was arbitrary and capricious. It was an age discrimination ruling.”
There are only a few hundred doctors and medical administrators who have a say on guidelines for organ transplants. They are generally well funded, cutting edge experts in their fields, or they are researchers funded by government grants, universities or large private hospital groups.
No reason to believe they don’t keep their guidelines up to date at the Federal level, no reason to believe this judge had any reason in 10 days time to change their guidelines. NO reason to believe the affected organ donation network won’t appeal any ruling, to maintain their professional independence.
My ex Father-in-law is alive with 1 lung. (Due to mesothelioma)
>Oy, the point to me is that the Government does not belong in these decisions!!
<<
Why are so many MISSING this point, like this is some case on TV that they can cheer on from afar? Wake up, America, YOU and YOUR KIDS are the one on the chopping block!!!!
“There is a place for judges and rulings like this in our society. Seems to me this judge did exactly what he was supposed to do.”
Step back and see the bigger picture. The only reason it’s a good thing a “judge” got involved is to UNDO THE THREAT OF DEATH imposed on this little girl because the GOVERNMENT got involved.
GET IT?!?!?!
Perhaps no one. Not everyone on the list has only days left to survive.
You’re absolutely correct. Conservatives were against Obamacare because it would allow government meddling in decisions they should not be involved in. But then the media gets people worked into a lather by tugging at their heartstrings and they clamor for government intervention. And they’re too stupid to see it.
The left has played us well indeed.
No one said she was bumped to the top. She was added to the adult list opening more options.
Real mature
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Apparently this is quite a complex situation and I don't pretend to know much about it, except one thing: The fedgov should not be telling anyone that they can't have a transplant. It should be up to the patients and doctors. I need to read the whole thread.
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That is why I am not celebrating.
I am hopeful for the child and her family, but you are right, this moves things further to the left.
Um.... the Donor.
Duh.
I read that Pope Francis donated a lung at one point, and that is why he can’t sing much.
Are you comfortable with federal death panels?
I agree with everything you said 100%.
I honestly hope the child does get a “life saving” transplant, and lives a long happy life; but aren’t you all doing your thinking with your emotions? This child has a disease which destroyed her lungs; replacing her lungs will not cure her of the disease, and soon it will destroy her “new” lungs also. Meanwhile, that twenty year old who died waiting for those lungs is still dead.
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