South Jersey woman says daughter was denied transplant because of mental disability — NewsWorks: For doctors, transplant eligibility for those with mental disabilities is seen in shades of gray, not the same black and white. When determining eligibility for kidney transplants for mentally disabled adults, doctors would consider whether patients could take their post-transplant medication reliably, or have a support system to ensure they would. For kids, that kind of care is always the job of the parents. So the question becomes one of quality of life: how much better would life be for the child if he or she got the transplant rather than going on dialysis?
In her blog,
the mother quotes this exchange with the doctor:
“So you mean to tell me that as a doctor, you are not recommending the transplant, and when her kidneys fail in six months to a year, you want me to let her die because she is mentally retarded? There is no other medical reason for her not to have this transplant other than she is MENTALLY RETARDED!”
“Yes, [said the doctor]. This is hard for me, you know.”
Related:
Is intellectual disability a reason to deny an organ transplant?
Wesley J. Smith commentary
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