DRUG WAR: Man Denied Liver Transplant Dies
May 2, 2008
A musician who was denied a liver transplant because he used marijuana with medical approval under Washington state law to ease the symptoms of advanced hepatitis C died Thursday.
Garon died a week after his doctor told him a University of Washington Medical Center committee had again denied him a spot on the liver transplant list because of his use of marijuana, although it was authorized under Washington state law.
“He said I’m going to die with such conviction,” Garon told an AP reporter at the time. “I’m not angry, I’m not mad, I’m just confused.”
Via KOMO-TV
Dominic Holden, of the SLOG:
Below is the main number and individual email addresses. Call and write. Ask who made this decision, what their names are and can you speak to them. Ask how Mr. Garon’s past marijuana use—as recommended by his physician and completely legal under state law—means he wouldn’t benefit from a liver transplant from the state hospital.
UW Division of Transplant: (206) 598-6700
The fax number: (206) 598-0628
The chief of the division is Jorge D. Reyes: reyesjd@u.washington.edu
The director is Kay Wicks: kwicks@u.washington.edu
The full directory for transplant staff is over here.
The committee that made the decision knows full well that the marijuana Mr. Garon smoked hasn’t caused liver damage. Instead, Dr. Reyes justifies the decisions in the AP article by saying marijuana can be habit-forming, and he’s worried that Mr. Garon would continue to use marijuana.
Excuse me, but what sort of backward logic concludes it’s best to let a man to die because he used the very medication that helped him live? Hep-C is explicitly covered under Washington’s Medical Use of Marijuana Act for helping curb the nausea caused by the disease’s viral load. In the article, another doc grasps at straws by saying that a form of mold that can be found on marijuana could cause his body to reject the new organ—if Mr. Garon smokes pot—but he wouldn’t smoke pot if doctors told him not to, because he’s not addicted to it like a crack addict. It’s marijuana, one of the least habit-forming of all psychoactive drugs. So he’s being denied the transplant for something that hasn’t happened. I know I’ve gotten my ranties in a bunch, but the UW’s decision is a death sentence for Mr. Garon.
One more time:
The number to call: (206) 598-6700
The email address to write: reyesjd@u.washington.edu
