Medical marijuana patients face transplant hurdles

April 27, 2008 By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Medical marijuana patients face transplant hurdles (AP)

Tim Garon lies in his hospital bed as his girlfriend, Leisa Bueno, leans over to give him a kiss while they wait to hear if he will be put on a transplant list to receive a new liver Thursday, April 24, 2008, in Seattle. Garon was refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

(AP) -- Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant. His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.



Content from The Associated Press expires 15 days after original publication date. For more information about The Associated Press, please visit www.ap.org .

Similar stories from PHYSorg:


Is the US swine flu epidemic over?

created Feb 05, 2010 | popularity 1.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Doctors miss major cause of infertility and obesity

created Feb 02, 2010 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Girl's odyssey shows challenge of fighting obesity

created Feb 01, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Fighting cancer with light

created Jan 29, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0

NASA to get more money, but must scratch moon plan

created Jan 28, 2010 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (10) | comments 33


   
Rate this story - 4.6 /5 (14 votes)

Rank Filter

Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

  • itistoday - Apr 27, 2008
    • Rank: 3.4 / 5 (10)
    This is messed up beyond belief.
  • paulo - Apr 27, 2008
    • Rank: 3.2 / 5 (9)
    and stupid and evil.

  • Soylent - Apr 27, 2008
    • Rank: 2 / 5 (9)
    "This is messed up beyond belief."

    Not really. There are only so many livers to go around and they'll be preferentially given to younger, healthier individuals who have better prospects for a long and productive life.

    If you feel that something should be done about it one of the best things you can do is to register to be an organ donor. If there were enough organs being donated instead of rotting in the ground there wouldn't be any need to withhold a new liver from people like mr. Garon.
  • Egnite - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 4.6 / 5 (7)
    I bet they have no problems taking organs from drug users (if they're not too messed up ofc) to donate to non-drug users.

    This is appalling imo and next time I donate blood I'll be asking who is entitled to get my donated blood/organs and swiftly withdrawing my offer if the same happens here. Maybe they should only donate organs to others that are set up to donate aswell but using drug use (marijuana at that - much less harmful than alcohol) as an excuse is just PC gone mad!!
  • COCO - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 1.1 / 5 (8)
    Marijuana - a drug described correctly by no other an authority than Ronald Regan -as the most dangerous on earth - should be the focus of our war on drugs and these scoff laws should be imprisioned and not given special privledges.
  • Bigfoot - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 4.2 / 5 (6)
    COCO -- Stuck in Reefer Madness are we?

    Marijuana has for a long time been labeled as deathly, disgusting and vile, when it is really no worse than alcohol when the user knows how to control their intake.

    Oh, and none other than George Washington grew pot on his farm. Thought I'd let you know that.

    (For the record I do not smoke pot, nor do I intend to, I just see the good and the bad to it, with the good outweighing the bad by today's standards.)
  • Algaholic - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
    This is the reason I'm not an organ donor.
  • COCO - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (5)
    you will all reap the whirlwind if you keep this up - we already have the relativley benign legal and controlled drugs like tobacco and booze - we do cannot afford to keep going down this route!! All science reports that 'pot' is the gateway to heroin and crack cocaine. If you think or even feel otherwise, you are in the same boat as 911 truthers or UFO abductees. Wake UP!
    http://youtube.co...KMTo210k



  • earls - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 4 / 5 (5)
    Nice troll COCO.

    All I get is the message "If you do drugs you deserve to die." Nice.
  • COCO - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (5)
    reap the whirlwind brothers
  • superhuman - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (5)
    COCO: Pot is often the gateway to hard drugs thanks to exactly the same ignorant foolish rhetoric that you invoke here.
    When someone is first told that pot is deadly and terribly addictive and then tries it for himself he immediately sees its all BS and from that point on he will completely disregard any farther warnings. Then if he has access to something really dangerous like crack or heroin he will believe that he can control it just as easily as the 'deadly' pot, he will soon realize his error but it will be too late.
    The only way to educate people about drugs is to tell them the truth, if you are spreading foolish lies about imaginary dangers you are doing doing much more harm then if you were silent.
  • COCO - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 1 / 5 (6)
    my only intention is to help people like yourself and the other self-absorbed cognoscenti to stick with the relatively harmless tobacco and liquor products so widely available and safe.
    Marijuana takes your soul, your money and finally your life. More people overdose from this heinous weed than die from any other known herb!! God Bless Amerika!!
  • Bigfoot - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
    You know you can't overdose on pot right? You'd pass out first.

    Oh, and marijuana doesn't take your soul. Self control (or a lack of it) does. This is relevant to alcoholics and emphysema patients that continue to smoke.

    I'm done listening to you, as you are either obviously
    A) Trolling
    or B) A misguided product of the current media
  • itistoday - Apr 28, 2008
    • Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
    Guys, please, stop feeding the trolls. Coco is obviously pulling your legs. I mean, look at the "God Bless Amerika!" there. He's probably laughing his head off, rightfully, for you taking him seriously.

April 27, 2008 all stories

Comments: 14

4.6 /5 (14 votes)



  • hide
  • Relevant PhysicsForums posts

Other News

Scientists reveal how an old drug could have a new use for treating river blindness

Medicine & Health / Research

created 48 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new use for the drug closantel, currently the standard treatment for sheep and cattle infected with liver fluke. The new research suggests that the ...


Using nitroglycerin to treat prostate cancer shows potential to halt disease

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 58 minutes ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Treatment of prostate cancer using a very low dose of nitroglycerin may slow and even halt the progression of the disease without the severe side effects of current treatments, Queen's University researchers have discovered


New era of pain drugs advanced by Barrow researcher

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created 45 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Research led by a scientist at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center has opened the door for the advancement of a new category of painkillers, called TRPV1 antagonists.


Phone app providing real-time statistics on physical activity around the world

Medicine & Health / Health

created 14 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

An iPhone application created by UH researchers is providing first-of-its-kind real-time statistics of physical activity around the world. Those annual rankings of America's fattest and fittest cities that use government ...


Research warns of risks of low potassium in heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 57 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) says low potassium levels produce an increased risk of death or hospitalization in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease (CKD).