Misty Cargill has been denied an organ transplant.
This piece on NPR states that Misty, who is a person with cognitive limitations, feels bad about the denial and the reason for it. In addition to needing a kidney transplant which makes her sick, she now carries the added burden of feeling bad because she was denied the transplant because of "mental competency issues." She hangs her head when asked about it.
Others say it is discriminatory. As the article indicates, Steven Reiss, an expert on developmental disabilities at Ohio State University , has done a study of 42 people with cognitive limitations who received transplants. The success rate is extremely high, ranging from 100 per cent after one year to 90 per cent after two years.
Yet he sees alot of transplants denied to people with cognitive limitations.
I agree that the denial of a transplant to Misty on that basis alone is discriminatory and say it is another example of our society devaluing the life of a person with a disability. We need stronger laws protecting the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves with the emphasis on guidelines that are legitimate, such as proof that the recipient would not do the necessary care involved with the transplant. This would include looking at the support and resources available to the person. According to Professor Reiss, many of the denied candidates lived in group homes and care and oversight was readily available.
Using the person's disability as the criterion is a dangerous and unacceptable standard.
Thanks to Reverend William Gaventa for forwarding an email regarding this on our Inclusive ministry list serv.
2 comments:
Only if they were not in a position to take the meds on time and keep the doctor's appointments would it make sense to even consider leaving a mentally challenged person off such a list!
True. Reiss points out that many of the candidates refused lived in group homes, so actually that issue was ruled out due to supervision. Very sad.
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