Last words of alcoholic, 22, who died after being refused liver transplant
A young alcoholic denied a liver transplant because he was too ill to prove he could stay sober outside hospital had begged his mother to help him live.
Gary Reinbach, 22, was terrified and pleaded with his mother to do something hours before his death. His last words to her were: 'Please help me Mum, I don't want to die.'
Mr Reinbach had the worst case of cirrhosis that doctors had ever seen in a man of his age but they refused to give him a new liver which could have saved his life.
National guidelines dictate that to qualify for a donor organ, a potential recipient must prove he has the determination to stop drinking by remaining abstinent for six months.
Gary Reinback
Binge drinker Gary Reinbach in hospital with his mother Madeline Hanshaw shortly before he died
This is to make sure there are no more cases like that of George Best - the football legend who continued to drink after receiving a donor liver and subsequently died.
Gary's mother Madeline Hanshaw, 44, told how he begged medical staff to give him the vital transplant just the day before he died.
'Gary had done everything he could to convince doctors he deserved one. He had even begged them straight out to give him a second chance to live,' she told the Mirror.
George Best
Death by guidelines. NICE guidelines. How much more heartless and NASTY can you get?
So What Will Be Done About The Officer?
7 hours ago
3 comments:
Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath?
Zero tolerance on the way?
The core issue is not the transplant guidelines, the issue is the availability of transplants. If transplants were more readily available, the guidelines could be easily changed. Growing replacement parts will eventually help, but for now we could dramatically change the availability of transplants by requiring everyone to specifically opt-out if they don't want their organs to be used this way. In one country, this changed the number of people donating organs from 10% to over 80%.
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