Sentenced to death for following doctor's orders
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Abortion of justice. That's the term that has been making headlines since it was first uttered yesterday by the Reverend Al Sharpton, outraged after a judge acquitted three NYPD officers charged with murdering Sean Bell on the night before his wedding. Personally, I don't agree with Al (the circumstances of the case show that these officers were in the right, and it seems the more vocal segment of New York's African American community are turning a crime issue into a racial one). But Sean Bell isn't what this post is about.
Instead, we're talking about justice. And when I saw this article in today's Times on a man sentenced to death by the University of Washington Medical Center, "abortion of justice" was the first thing that popped into my mind:
Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.Let me get this straight: we still use taxpayer money to provide social services for a homeless population that - at least in Seattle - is made up largely of drug addicts with no incentive to get clean. We allow welfare recipients to continue receiving their checks without ever questioning whether drug use is keeping them from getting back on their feet. But we're effectively ending a man's life because he smoked pot to relieve pain on his doctor's recommendation (and under the laws of Washington state)?
But Garon isn't getting a new liver. He's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
[...]
The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation's transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates. At some, people who use "illicit substances" — including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it — are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.
Dr. Jorge Reyes, a liver transplant surgeon at the UW Medical Center, said that while medical marijuana use isn't in itself a sign of substance abuse, it must be evaluated in the context of each patient.Who does Reyes think he's kidding? We aren't all caught up in the fears of Reefer Madness still being propagated by the DEA. The idea that marijuana use puts you at serious risk for addiction is laughable to anyone who sees through the nonsense. Plus, the article points out that steady marijuana use after the transplant would be absolutely forbidden due to the potential health issues that could arise. Does the UWMC really think that if they gave Garon a new liver, the craving for a weed fix would cause him to disregard his recent surgery and put his life in danger?
"The concern is that patients who have been using it will not be able to stop," Reyes said.
This is despicable situation. Reyes and the rest of the folks at the UWMC, apparently willing to bend over and take it in the rear from draconian federal drug laws, should be ashamed of themselves.
