AMERICAblog: Florida hospital to let disabled child die because no one wants him
cosanostradamus
· 1 year ago
. In all fairness, the kid's a Democrat. .
jr
· 1 year ago
this is Reaganomic America where everyone who isn't wealthy is a "burden"
tbhull
· 1 year ago
Democrats and Republicans let the 4th Amendment die because they have no use for it.
Õ¿Õ
· 1 year ago
Don't worry. We're going to get the bastards.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
I would not shed a tear if all elected government officals in DC were to disappear.
Õ¿Õ
· 1 year ago
I am able to meditate in my ritual garden. It takes time but it works. There's really no rush for anything. Just relax. I get pissed off, too, but it will be taken care of gradually. Focus your thoughts....
tbhull
· 1 year ago
Fishing, my garden and my pug are my soul's salve.
Õ¿Õ
· 1 year ago
Well, I'm sending you some good vibes right now, too. It's going to be alright with all of us.
Õ¿Õ
· 1 year ago
And your little pug, too...
ha ha
tbhull
· 1 year ago
His name is Bosley aka Poops, or Mr. Poops to you.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
How can we possibly trust government to handle anything like health care whern they cannot even abide for the document that defines their power?
tbhull
· 1 year ago
Retry:
How can we possibly trust government to handle anything like health care whern they cannot even abide by the document that defines their power?
ibsulon
· 1 year ago
The question here isn't money -- the question is how to distributed a limited number of transplantable kidneys. Does it make sense to give it to someone who could end up having a rejection because he's getting lost in the system *at the expense* of someone who is equally deserving?
If it were just a matter of cost, I would agree with you. Unfortunately, to potentially save one life is at the expense of another.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
umm... its a liver. not kidneys... I might be wrong but, I seem to remember that liver regenerates (unless diseased) and has a lower rejection rate.
not to mention that... this isn't a fight to GET him a liver... its a fight to KEEP him on the transplant list.
being on the list doesn't deny anyone else anything... they're ALL waiting.
I wonder how many of them die waiting as well.
vkobaya
· 1 year ago
the question is how to distributed a limited number of transplantable kidneys.
That's a lie. There are plenty of kidneys available. Just take the kidneys of everyone in congress as they don't need them. When we run out of Congress, the Administration, then oil, and phara executives. I'm all for bringing back the guillotines, but that is such a waste when thanks to modern medicine we can use their organs to save the lives of the worthy working class people.
Traumatic
· 1 year ago
In all fairness, and working in the medical field, transplants are denied to deserving people all the time. It is an unfortunate consequence of the supply/demand aspect of transplants. In a purely "percentage" aspect, the liver (or any organ) needs to go not to the most deserving, but to the one with the best chance of survival and recovery. In other words, the "most deserving" may be someone who is so sick as to not stand much chance of recovery. And as horrible as this sounds, that is a waste of an organ.
Yes the system sucks, but there it is. I hope we are all donors, by the way.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
Do they let gay people donate organs?
I know sperm and blood is out... I figure we're not allowed to give anything that blood passes through.
lilybart
· 1 year ago
True but are decisions made to deny a transplant just because he is an orphan?
The big problem here is the state of Florida and it's negligence.
bluestockton
· 1 year ago
Nothing in the story says that this boy is an orphan. It says he was removed from an addict mother and placed with relatives who cared for him until they couldn't any more.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
This country's so screwed up in so many ways.
(They should bring back orphanages, by the way. They weren't the greatest places, but they were better than the current system by a long shot.)
jcgraham77
· 1 year ago
Do we not still have orphanages? I know I have friends of family who adopt foster kids just for the income. Like a job/salary.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
There might still be a few, but not like there were.
Foster homes are considered the way to go now.
(And, yeah, I knew a redneck who took in foster kids and converted them to Mormonism. Not sure how he got money out of the deal but, knowing him, there was some money involved.)
Many orphanages were set up in the United States by religious organizations during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, over time, concerns rose about poor conditions and discriminatory policies, particularly during the Civil Rights movement. Orphanages became associated with a low standard of care -- barracks-like accommodations, a lack of mental health and support services, poor food and insufficient funding. Following World War II, most orphanages in the U.S. began closing. Take the Windy City as an example. In the early 1970s, almost every orphanage in Chicago was shut down by the Illinois Department of Children and Family. Half of the city’s orphanages had already closed between 1945 and 1960 [ref]. Over the past few decades, orphanages in the U.S. have been largely replaced with smaller institutions that try to provide a group home or boarding school environment. Most children who would have been in orphanages are in these residential treatment centers (RTC) or foster care.
That's the New World Order for you. There's nary a word about that in the Orlando Sentinel. A McCain presidency will provide lots more of the same. As for Terry Schiavo, her parents and the people who made the Big Fuss along with Governor Jeb Bush are all Catholics. If that doesn't explain what happened in that case, 1,000 more words will not clarify the issue.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
John... he isn't a fetus or a vegetable.
the GOP aren't interested.
Milli
· 1 year ago
If only the boy were a fetus, then they would care..........
PeteWa
· 1 year ago
"He has been diagnosed with a developmental disability and often has difficulty controlling his behavior."
Geee... and he has a liver that doesn't work? Gosh, I've never experienced, seen or heard of people who have livers or kidneys not working properly display behavior problems before... /snark
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
I've never heard of nor experienced former crackbaby kids being shuffled through the foster care system their whole lives ever having behavioral problems either.
Thank god we 'muricans have our denial bubbles!
/snark
lilybart
· 1 year ago
Excellent comment. I hadn't thought of the Shaivo debacle in connection with this story.
Good f-ing question!
Psyche
· 1 year ago
Although this story tugs at the heartstrings, as a transplant psychologist and ethicist, I'm acutely aware that there is far more that goes into transplant evaluations than reflected in the newspaper article or the blog posts.
Hate to be a spoiler here but have to agree with Traumatic. There is a shortage of transplantable organs (and folks willing to give up part of their liver). It is extremely important to select candidates that are not only likely to profit from transplant but are able to comply with a daunting medical regimen. This includes huge numbers of pills per day, numerous medical followup visits, avoidance of risky behavior, infections (because of immunosuppression), etc. For this reason in a transplant center, not only the patient but the family is evaluated since family emotional support, oversight of medication, and ability to understand the regimen are essential.
Whatever the color of the patient, his lack of a concerned, involved family or even a stable foster placement and developmental disabilities that might make self-care or cooperation with caregivers extremely difficult would place him in a very high risk category by criteria used.
I also have trouble with ethicists who tut-tut over this case unless they have a lot more information than we have. This patient certainly deserves a second opinion and I'm glad that it's being sought but it is no guarantee that the second hospital will approve transplant.
BTW: Unless all the incensed folks on this list are signed up to be organ donors, I can't take their concern too seriously.
Soundboy_jeff_meanie
· 1 year ago
again... do they let gay people donate organs?
no?? so I'm not supposed to have an opinion?
hmm... fine then, I'll let this one go as long as straight people stay the fuck outta my marriage.
how's that work for you?
Forty2
· 1 year ago
listed organ donor since 1980. gay, even.
vkobaya
· 1 year ago
After the Mickey Mantle liver transplant, I took my name off the organ donor list. I suspect though that if Bush or Cheney's needs a heart, liver, kidney or other organs, that won't stop them from snatching me off the street and taking any and all the organs they want.
Psyche
· 1 year ago
Wow! A pretty snarky comment for someone not well-informed. 1. Unless you live in Canada, you can donate organs if you're gay. Even HIV+ transplants may be done in HIV+ recipients. Even in Canada, where they have a law against accepting organs from gay men, they may make exceptions after a careful evaluation. 2. You can have an opinion regardless of orientation but don't blame it on the system if you don't know the rules. 3. WTF does this have to do with your marriage? 4. Why do you assume I'm straight?
rja4429
· 1 year ago
Only in Florida, the state where people don't matter unless they meet certain standard evangelical/neocon/Repuglican criteria. But Shands Hospital (remember the name, people) has it backward. This kid is No. 1 on the list of those needing help. Clearly he's been crying out for help his entire 15 years of life. But he's been written off because . . . of what?
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
No family means there's no survivors to make legal trouble?
SociologistTina
· 1 year ago
Unbelievably sad. Thanks for letting us know about this.
All Comments
In all fairness, the kid's a Democrat.
.
ha ha
How can we possibly trust government to handle anything like health care whern they cannot even abide by the document that defines their power?
If it were just a matter of cost, I would agree with you. Unfortunately, to potentially save one life is at the expense of another.
not to mention that... this isn't a fight to GET him a liver... its a fight to KEEP him on the transplant list.
being on the list doesn't deny anyone else anything... they're ALL waiting.
I wonder how many of them die waiting as well.
That's a lie. There are plenty of kidneys available. Just take the kidneys of everyone in congress as they don't need them. When we run out of Congress, the Administration, then oil, and phara executives. I'm all for bringing back the guillotines, but that is such a waste when thanks to modern medicine we can use their organs to save the lives of the worthy working class people.
Yes the system sucks, but there it is. I hope we are all donors, by the way.
I know sperm and blood is out... I figure we're not allowed to give anything that blood passes through.
The big problem here is the state of Florida and it's negligence.
(They should bring back orphanages, by the way. They weren't the greatest places, but they were better than the current system by a long shot.)
Foster homes are considered the way to go now.
(And, yeah, I knew a redneck who took in foster kids and converted them to Mormonism. Not sure how he got money out of the deal but, knowing him, there was some money involved.)
Many orphanages were set up in the United States by religious organizations during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, over time, concerns rose about poor conditions and discriminatory policies, particularly during the Civil Rights movement. Orphanages became associated with a low standard of care -- barracks-like accommodations, a lack of mental health and support services, poor food and insufficient funding.
Following World War II, most orphanages in the U.S. began closing. Take the Windy City as an example. In the early 1970s, almost every orphanage in Chicago was shut down by the Illinois Department of Children and Family. Half of the city’s orphanages had already closed between 1945 and 1960 [ref]. Over the past few decades, orphanages in the U.S. have been largely replaced with smaller institutions that try to provide a group home or boarding school environment. Most children who would have been in orphanages are in these residential treatment centers (RTC) or foster care.
http://people.howstuffworks.com/adoption5.htm
the GOP aren't interested.
Geee... and he has a liver that doesn't work?
Gosh, I've never experienced, seen or heard of people who have livers or kidneys not working properly display behavior problems before...
/snark
Thank god we 'muricans have our denial bubbles!
/snark
Good f-ing question!
Hate to be a spoiler here but have to agree with Traumatic. There is a shortage of transplantable organs (and folks willing to give up part of their liver). It is extremely important to select candidates that are not only likely to profit from transplant but are able to comply with a daunting medical regimen. This includes huge numbers of pills per day, numerous medical followup visits, avoidance of risky behavior, infections (because of immunosuppression), etc. For this reason in a transplant center, not only the patient but the family is evaluated since family emotional support, oversight of medication, and ability to understand the regimen are essential.
Whatever the color of the patient, his lack of a concerned, involved family or even a stable foster placement and developmental disabilities that might make self-care or cooperation with caregivers extremely difficult would place him in a very high risk category by criteria used.
I also have trouble with ethicists who tut-tut over this case unless they have a lot more information than we have. This patient certainly deserves a second opinion and I'm glad that it's being sought but it is no guarantee that the second hospital will approve transplant.
BTW: Unless all the incensed folks on this list are signed up to be organ donors, I can't take their concern too seriously.
no?? so I'm not supposed to have an opinion?
hmm... fine then, I'll let this one go as long as straight people stay the fuck outta my marriage.
how's that work for you?
1. Unless you live in Canada, you can donate organs if you're gay. Even HIV+ transplants may be done in HIV+ recipients. Even in Canada, where they have a law against accepting organs from gay men, they may make exceptions after a careful evaluation.
2. You can have an opinion regardless of orientation but don't blame it on the system if you don't know the rules.
3. WTF does this have to do with your marriage?
4. Why do you assume I'm straight?