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| Transplant doctor says inmate's liver unneeded |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 05/23/2005 |
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Indiana should grant a condemned man a reprieve so he can donate part of his liver to his ailing sister if it is her only chance to live, some medical ethicists argue. But a transplant doctor says she might be better off without it. Debra Otis likely would fare better with a full liver from a cadaver than a split liver from her brother, Gregory Scott Johnson, said Dr. Joseph Tector, director of transplants at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Johnson is scheduled to be executed this week. "I think we'll be able to bypass this whole situation," Tector said last Tuesday. "It's a nice offer from her brother, but we probably don't have to use his liver for his sister." Johnson, 40, last Monday asked the state parole board to grant him clemency or time to donate his liver to his sister. Otis, 48, who lives in an Anderson nursing home, needs a new liver because she has cirrhosis caused by non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, said Johnson's attorney, Michelle Kraus. Otis told NBC's "Today" that she wants part of her brother's liver. "I would truly feel like he was with me all the time," she said. Otis is not on the transplant waiting list because she is recovering from an infection. But Tector, who is familiar with her case, said he is confident he could find her a liver because no one else in Indiana with her blood type is awaiting a transplant. "The next organ in her blood group that comes up, she'd be the first person to receive it," he said. Kraus said no one has told her that Johnson's liver is not needed. "Nobody who has her medical chart in front of them has conveyed to me that she wouldn't need this or this couldn't occur," she said. "I haven't heard 'no' from anybody." Johnson's request last Monday raised questions about whether it is simply a ploy to buy more time. "That seems like it would be very, very easy to find out," said Stephen Bright, director for the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta and a death penalty expert. Bright said testing Johnson to determine whether he is healthy enough to donate his liver and whether it would be compatible with Otis should solve the issue. Kraus said she has been unable to determine whether Johnson's liver would be usable because the Department of Correction has refused to give him a blood test. However, the correction department has not been asked, spokeswoman Java Ahmed said. The request also raised the question of whether condemned inmates should be allowed to donate organs. Indiana has not yet issued a decision on whether it will oppose Johnson's request. Gov. Mitch Daniels declined to comment last Tuesday. |
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In my opinion, it would be totally fare for the Debra Otis to get the split liver from his brother that was about to be executed but I did not why the related medical officer did not allow them to do. Source https://luckypennsylvania.com deals in online casino you must visit it. It would be much better for the government of Indiana to soften their related laws because it will help a lot of patients.
Indiana should grant a condemned man a reprieve so he can donate part of his liver to his ailing sister if it is her only chance to live, when she get, hope she will be healthy,so it's good to grant him to allocate her.Pathology Medical Billing