Thread: Immigration debate hits home for liver transplant patients

Originally Posted by butterbean

Originally Posted by Gogo

Originally Posted by camilleinchicago

Originally Posted by PhredE

Small civil-minded reminder to all here - if you can agree to it, please consider 'Organ Donor' change to your driver license. You might be saving someone else's life.

Not me! If a patient is in a situation where death is imminent and their organs can be donated, the medical team will approach the family even if you have not signed the card. My family will be instructed to tell them that they can use my organs only if they go to a US citizen or legal resident. If the medical folks don't like that, then they get nothing. I'll be damned if I will contribute to a fiasco like this! What comfort could my family possibly get knowing they helped keep alive some (MOD EDIT) like her?

I don't mind donating but not ahead of time. I question the ethics of some of these doctors and how they may get paid. Most I'm sure are fine but with my track record, I'd get the crook and paid-off doctor. I'm not sure they could tell you if they are a legal citizen. If they did that would be great.

I wont sign any "organ donor" change to my license. If I am really going to die, my family will be instructed to donate whatever would be left that may help another person. But, remember this, ORGANS NEED TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION FOR ORGAN TRANSPLANT, and this doesn't happen when you are close to death because all of your organs "shut down" during the dieing process.

I "question the ethics of doctors" too. I dont mind donating organs in order for someone to live, but unless you are brain dead, you are still alive and can recuperate depending on your illness. Why should someone pull the plug on me so another person can live?

I am completely against donating anything to an illegal alien. Why should they get chosen over an American citizen. They need to get help from their own country. This is the 4th liver transplant for this 21 year old. IMO, 4 Americans could be alive today if she wasn't given preference over them.

In many cases where a patient is brain-dead, the organs are too damaged to use. In the event that a patient does have such severe brain damage that there is no hope of recovery (which must be carefully documented), the transplant team will probably approach the family whether the patient has signed the DL organ donor or not. The family knows the patient's wishes far better than some bureaucrat at the DMV. The family should have the final say so as to what, if anything, is donated. If I am in a 'donor' situation, medical personnel need to understand the it DOES matter to my family whether or not my organs go to someone in the country illegally.
This is a slippery slope. The big mistake with this 'it should not matter if I am undocumented, you taxpayers have to pay for my car 4- ever' girl was doing the first transplant. Once they did that, they opened the door for her to claim that to stop treating her would be 'abandonment', etc. And here we are $2 million later. With the knowledge that 3 citizens may have died waiting for transplant so she could get hers.

There is something my mom (who is a medical transcriptionist at a local hospital) gave me called Advance Directives. They are documents which state your choices about medical treatment or name someone to make decisoins for you if you cannot do it yourself.

Might be something worth looking into for a variety of reasons.

Los Angeles Times Examines Medical Coverage For Chronically Ill Undocumented Immigrants
15 Apr 2008

The Los Angeles Times on Sunday examined a "little known option" for undocumented immigrants in California with certain medical needs: if they notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that they are not U.S. citizens, they could be eligible for health care benefits through the state's Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. The Times profiled the case of 21-year-old Ana Puente, an undocumented immigrant with a liver disorder who has received three liver transplants and other care at UCLA Medical Center since she was an infant.

Undocumented immigrant children with certain severe, chronic illnesses are eligible to receive care under the California Children's Services program until age 21. After age 21, undocumented immigrants can receive no-cost or discounted health care through county programs that serve the indigent or, in some cases, through emergency Medi-Cal. However, in Los Angeles County, neither program covers liver transplants, and "when they become adults, patients like Puente often have to switch doctors and hospitals and may lose access to necessary medical care," the Times reports. Norman Williams, spokesperson for the state health department, said that if undocumented immigrants inform the state in writing of their presence and if federal officials have no plans to deport them, they could be eligible for full Medi-Cal coverage, which includes liver transplants. Medical condition is taken into account in determining whether immigrants receive Medi-Cal coverage, the Times reports.
Ethical Issues
Puente's case "highlights two controversial issues: Should illegal immigrants receive liver transplants in the U.S. and should taxpayers pick up the cost," according to the Times. The average cost of a liver transplant and first year of follow-up care is almost $490,000, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Anti-rejection medications can cost $30,000 annually. Immigration status is not taken into account when allocating donated organs. In 2007, more than 90% of liver transplants in California went to U.S. citizens.

Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, which favors stricter controls on immigration, said, "All transplants are about rationing," adding, "I just don't think the public ought to be funding any kind of benefits for people who are breaking the law." However, Michael Shapiro, vice chair of the ethics committee for the organ network, said that undocumented immigrants have the right to organ transplants and that they likely donate organs more than they receive them. "People are people, and when you make an incision in an organ donor, you don't find little American flags planted on their organs," Shapiro said. Andrew Stolz, director of the liver consultation service at Los Angeles County Hospital + USC Medical Center, said there are about 10 liver transplant patients at the hospital receiving care who aged out of the California Children's Services program and are now uninsured, but he is unaware how many of those patients are undocumented immigrants (Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 4/13).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/103996.php

In 2007, more than 90% of liver transplants in California went to U.S. citizens.

That means, 10% of liver transplants went to illegal aliens!!!

if they notify U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that they are not U.S. citizens, they could be eligible for health care benefits through the state's Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.

I just can't seem to wrap my head around that stupid law! I feel like SicNTired, banging my head on my computer trying to understand it.

So if they admit to breaking the law they are rewarded with free health care??

Green Card anyone?

This is a real touchy subject. My uncle has been on kidney dialisis for 10 years and hasent gotten a call for a kidney. Its Really sad to watch him suffer. I do agree though that IA's are people too with familys that care about them and deserve to be saved, But I don't agree with tax payer money funding It, I see stories all the time on how LaRaza and splc have tons of cash but they just use it to defend a gulity person or run huge events and campains and complain about not getting enough money from tax payers to save their people of the same intrists. They should be the first up to the plate to offer to pay for this stuff, And the country that the IA belongs to should also fit the bill for their citizens. Sad anyway that you look at it though.