Posted on 01/25/2002 10:11:12 AM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A California inmate has become the first person to receive an organ transplant while in state prison, adding fuel to questions as to whether there are limits to the kinds of treatment ailing inmates are given.
The operation took place at Stanford Medical Center. A 31-year-old felon was given a new heart. The inmate is serving a 14-year sentence for a 1996 robbery in Los Angeles. Prison officials said he will not be eligible for parole until 2008 because this is his second felony conviction.
After a longtime heart problem caused by a viral infection became critical, the inmate was transferred to the Stanford Medical Center from the prison system's medical institution at Vacaville. He received a new heart from an unidentified donor Jan. 3, and has been returned to Vacaville.
Prison officials estimate that the taxpayer-financed operation and aftercare could carry a price tag of $1 million.
We are exposed to many myths and facts about organ donating that it is hard to see some things in a different manner, sometimes comical, but not Death. I had to do some deep thinking on your last post.
I myself have learned to quit taking life so serious. These threads the past few days have been therapy for me.
And for some strange reason I feel like the Energizer bunny. Now where did I put those batteries?
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