California inmate gets new heart

San Jose Mercury News ^ | 1-25-2002 | AP

[gg188]

Unfreaking believable. The outrageousness of this is beyond what language can describe. Based upon this alone, without the mitigating and tempering things I know to the contrary, I would say: this nation and this civilization are sunk, are on the road downhill to obvlivion, postmodernism has won, PLUS we are insane.

It's another example of the government class versus the people who produce. The government class lives off of the ones who produce. The prisoner, the California prison bureaucrats, etc., produce nothing, yet live better then the ones who DO produce---because they have the license to steal from others.

[BoilermakerCAengineerguy]

We need to prioritize...

Don't we belong to a society that believes "that all men are created equal"? Or, at least, the Declaration of Independence states as such... It's not our place to decide who is a "higher priority", or who is "worth more", is it?

I mean, hey, God loves this guy just as much as He loves the "law abiding" citizen who is waiting for a transplant right now.

In fact, come to think of it, I was given a "new heart" by God even after I was "convicted" of breaking His law(s). If God only gave heart transplants to people who had never broken any of His laws, we'd all be in a world of hurt.

But I digress... I don't think the issue here should be "did the guy deserve the new heart". The problem is the fact that WE end up having to pay for it. Or is it just those of us living in CA that have to pay for it? Either way, my point is that he should have been treated like anyone else in line for a transplant: No cash or insurance, no surgery.

Just my $.02.

[BikerNYC]

You get the health care you can afford.

I agree, unless this operation is covered under Medicaid. If it is, then you get this kind of health care without having to afford it.

[EBUCK]

Make him pay it back with what? The money that he makes ($1.00 an hour) making Compaq circuit boards? Maybe Compaq and others (Intel, IBM, Nike etc.) should have to start giving health insurance to inmates that are technically employees.
I don't know, it just seems like John Q. (very pissed) Taxpayer gets the shaft again.

EBUCK

[Chad Fairbanks]

Sure... but my point was, that it seems that this guy got a new heart awefully fast, while others have had to wait for years... I just wonder if the only reason this guy got one so fast was that if he was put on a waiting list like everyone else, the state could have been sued if he died (since the state was 'responsible' for his well-being)... whereas others are selected based on severity of problems, and such... that's all...

[Serb5150]

this will make your blood boil.

[cksharks]

I am ashamed you are even calling yourself a Auburn Grad if you caint see why this makes no sense. I have a transplanted heart. I saw 14 people die while I was on the donor list. That included three children.Maybe a child dies because they gave a heart to a two time looser. The after care for a new heart is a rigrious schedule. I predict right now that this idiot wont live a year after getting out because of what it takes.

[AUgrad]

I know there are varying situations, and I agree the potential for abuse exists, but this guy is only serving eight years. He should have plenty of opportunity to work it off. I think we have an obligation to keep prisoners alive.

[AUgrad]

Sorry to dissapoint, if this guy got in line and waited like everyone else,IMO he should recieve a heart. I believe we have a responsibility at a very basic level to keep prisoners alive.

[AUgrad]

Sorry to dissapoint, if this guy got in line and waited like everyone else,IMO he should recieve a heart. I believe we have a responsibility at a very basic level to keep prisoners alive.

[Come get it]

what about the people on organ waiting lists who have been sentenced to death because of the lack of organs available

Organ transplants are not that simple. It's not just a lack of available organs, it's a lack of available organs that MATCH the recipients ABO blood type, MHC type, and many other criteria that are necessary to prevent tissue rejection.

It may be that the heart that became available did not match any other people on the list. Even so, taxpayer dollars SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN USED FOR THIS!!! Let his family pay for it, or their insurance company. Give him an outstanding balance, payable when he gets out. No tax dollars for this! Where are my tax-supported medical bills?

[jwfiv]

Meanwhile, Joe Sixpack dies while waiting in line for his transplant.

[Salvation]

second felony conviction.

For limits on expenditures. This is ridiculous.

[vikingchick]

Heads up, Liver Brigade!

[DWSUWF]

"...Heads up, Liver Brigade!..."

My views on gut-swapping are a matter of record.

Allow me to add to that record, however, and say that -in this case- I would not object to a pig's liver being substituted for the squeegee-muffin heart that surgeons removed from murderer ‘X’.

[Equalizer]

Now I've heard everything. I thought these people lost their rights. Sort of like giving Jessee James a bank.

[Equalizer]

I wonder if they electricuted em first

[TEXASPROUD]

Viral induced cardiomyopathy does occur, not necessarily from HIV, more like a helacious case of influenza.

[ElConservadorLoco]

Heads up, Liver Brigade!

I am reminded of the soldiers marching into the castle on the wizard of oz!

Oh Ye Oh YoooooooooOH!

Give me my sword! Or broom?!