Questions are being raised about the case of a 36-year-old Ontario woman who died of liver failure after she was rejected for a life-saving liver transplant after a medical review highlighted her prior alcohol use.
She had been an alcoholic since teen years and repeatedly tried and failed to quit
To clarify, I am NOT saying she deserved no healthcare. But donor livers (any organs actually) are a really really scarce commodity. This is why she would not get one
If we had artificial livers (for example), of course she should have received one
Omg, again this is like the third time it was posted
The boyfriend cannot give a full liver because he would die. Living donors can only donate a part of the liver. Unfortunately her liver was too far gone and she required a full cadaveric transplant.
Basically the docs saved the boyfriend from losing 1/3 of his liver for nothing
Same for all the people who eat nuts and get hospitalized as well, pull the plug right? I mean come on, they are lesser humans as we stand on our pedestals and look down on them.
/S
Genetics play a huge role in liver diseases. 85% of liver replacements don’t come from alcohol. Alcohol in sure is bad for you, but it really is a high horse scenario.
Any source on your assertion of 85% of liver transplants not being due to alcohol? May it be because people with livers blown due to alcohol use would be at the bottom of any transplant list?
I originally was reading studies performed in Australia that the U.S. pitched money to help the studies be larger, they took place around 2012, but here is more information from 2020 where you can see that it say “An estimated 10% to 15% of heavy drinkers progress to cirrhosis after decades of heavy alcohol use.”
Now cirrhosis isn’t the only liver impact that can come from drinking, but my point was that a lot of our “trashing their livers” view is likely because we look down our nose at drunks. Sure they added to it but we aren’t refusing heart transplants to 30 year olds because they drank Pepsi, when we know just as well added sugars/corn syrup does nothing but “trash their hearts.”
Nah you’re good mate, I take your point. ‘Only’ 10-15% of problem drinkers go on to develop cirrhosis and not a hundred percent of them will go on to trash their livers. You also make a good point about heart transplants not being denied to the obese for example. Today I learnt.
Lying about substance use to a confidential healthcare provider is not going to do you any good. If you have drank so much that you are having liver failure, they will know you are lying. If you haven’t drank that much, what’s the purpose of lying? To perpetuate the addiction?
According to the Summary Statistics provided by Canada at THIS LINK, Notably Tables 2A and 2D.
473 were simultaneously on a wait list in December 2023 and either 7 or 8 of them died awaiting transplant (or maybe gave up voluntarily).
So I’m not saying it’s murder or anything, just that in order to prolong your selfish existence you’re directly responsible for the death of another. You’re an adjacent-murderer.
But it’s impossible to know how many livers are or are not available at any given time, so absolutely a little morally ambiguous.
Well this was informative. I will now start lying to my doctor about my occasional alcohol use.
Or maybe read the article?
Occasional alcohol use won’t put you in this situation (hopefully you’ll never be in this situation for any reason)
However, of the reason you need a liver is that you wrecked your own with booze; you are unlikely to get another one
I didn’t see in the article if she self-reported alcohol use, or was tested. I’m responding to the comments here about self-reporting.
She had been an alcoholic since teen years and repeatedly tried and failed to quit
To clarify, I am NOT saying she deserved no healthcare. But donor livers (any organs actually) are a really really scarce commodity. This is why she would not get one
If we had artificial livers (for example), of course she should have received one
Or maybe read the article; she already had a donor lined up only for her. :-D
Omg, again this is like the third time it was posted
The boyfriend cannot give a full liver because he would die. Living donors can only donate a part of the liver. Unfortunately her liver was too far gone and she required a full cadaveric transplant.
Basically the docs saved the boyfriend from losing 1/3 of his liver for nothing
Same for all the people who eat nuts and get hospitalized as well, pull the plug right? I mean come on, they are lesser humans as we stand on our pedestals and look down on them. /S
Genetics play a huge role in liver diseases. 85% of liver replacements don’t come from alcohol. Alcohol in sure is bad for you, but it really is a high horse scenario.
Any source on your assertion of 85% of liver transplants not being due to alcohol? May it be because people with livers blown due to alcohol use would be at the bottom of any transplant list?
I originally was reading studies performed in Australia that the U.S. pitched money to help the studies be larger, they took place around 2012, but here is more information from 2020 where you can see that it say “An estimated 10% to 15% of heavy drinkers progress to cirrhosis after decades of heavy alcohol use.”
Now cirrhosis isn’t the only liver impact that can come from drinking, but my point was that a lot of our “trashing their livers” view is likely because we look down our nose at drunks. Sure they added to it but we aren’t refusing heart transplants to 30 year olds because they drank Pepsi, when we know just as well added sugars/corn syrup does nothing but “trash their hearts.”
https://news.va.gov/82545/genetic-risk-alcohol-related-cirrhosis-uncovered/
I’ll have to find the Australian government article about the 15% being replaced later. I don’t keep search history, auto-deletes
Nah you’re good mate, I take your point. ‘Only’ 10-15% of problem drinkers go on to develop cirrhosis and not a hundred percent of them will go on to trash their livers. You also make a good point about heart transplants not being denied to the obese for example. Today I learnt.
Lying about substance use to a confidential healthcare provider is not going to do you any good. If you have drank so much that you are having liver failure, they will know you are lying. If you haven’t drank that much, what’s the purpose of lying? To perpetuate the addiction?
In case I get liver failure for some reason other than drinking, but get disqualified for answering incorrectly.
When has that happened?
According to the Summary Statistics provided by Canada at THIS LINK, Notably Tables 2A and 2D.
473 were simultaneously on a wait list in December 2023 and either 7 or 8 of them died awaiting transplant (or maybe gave up voluntarily).
So I’m not saying it’s murder or anything, just that in order to prolong your selfish existence you’re directly responsible for the death of another. You’re an adjacent-murderer.
But it’s impossible to know how many livers are or are not available at any given time, so absolutely a little morally ambiguous.