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30
Probably a move to save face on the hospital's part.
If the hospital did in fact reverse its decision due to media scrutiny, I can't help but feel angry that this boy and his family have essentially gamed the system for their own gain. Hopefully he won't go all noncompliant again, but that seems like the most likely of all outcomes.
16
How is it gaming the system to draw attention to being wronged? They didn't game the system, they felt they were facing discrimination and went to the media. They don't have the time to mess around. That's not gaming the system, that's fighting for what's right.
1
That is pretty much it, hospitals rely a lot on donations and any bad publicity needs to be quashed.
5
They completely gamed the system. The kid is going to get a heart and most likely not take the necessary medication needed, killing him and wasting a heart that someone more responsible could have used. This is a PR fiasco, nothing more.
5
It's not discrimination to be eliminated from consideration for something if you're determined not to meet the requirements. I hope he and his family take this fully seriously and treat this heart like the (literal) lifeline it is.
21
19
I really think organ donation should be opt-OUT. Like, from birth you're automatically opted-in to the system to be a donor. It would be very easy to opt-out either by your parents when you're a child or when you're a legal adult, but since most Americans couldn't be bothered, voila, millions of new organs.
Honestly, in this day and age, no one should be forced to endure years of waiting to die while they move up a list of "who deserves to live most."
11
Amen. Having supper tonight with a friend to celebrate two years with her new lungs. She is an everyday miracle, and it never gets old. I don't care if my casket us empty, if I can give that many people as much life and joy as she is having.
I wonder how increased smoking bans and decreased smoking rates has affected the number of viable lungs available for transplanting... time to Google Scholar some things.
My gammy said they kill people if they're in an accident rather than attempt to save them so their organs could go to rich old white folk.
26
See, if he had complied with being rich and white he wouldn't have had this problem.
55
Or he could've just taken his meds. That seems easier.
13
Yeah, teenagers should die. They're the fucking worst.
6
I am a teenager, so don't start that shit with me.
Not everything has to be racism. If the hospital determined he poses a risk for noncompliance, that's their right, and it doesn't have to be racism.
wat
18
I know this is going to sound terrible but I really feel for the person who was next in line as a potential transplant recipient. This isn't to say that this young man doesn't deserve a chance but he's getting a chance to jump the queue because of the publicity surrounding his situation. I also hope that, if the transplant is successful, he makes the most of this second chance he's been given.
1
I'd find it pretty hilarious if the guy who was the first in line went to the media and set off the same bitchfest about being bumped.
1
That idea annoys me too; on the other hand, transplant organs aren't distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Patients move up or down on the list based on the urgency of both their own need and the needs of the others on the list.
2
It's my understanding that the people move up and down the list due to their conditions. I very much doubt he was placed at the top of the list due to the publicity but rather because of the severity of his disease. People who are on the list know this, so I would not fret about the next guy on the list. For all we know he could be in much better shape than the kid at this moment in time. The fact that the kid was placed on the list at all after the hospital refused prior, makes me think they didn't have much in the way of evidence to suggest he was really all that non-compliant, and therefore the publicity might have at least given the kid a chance at life. A heart that is a match is not guaranteed even though he's at the top of the list.
