News Briefs
No reprieve for condemned would-be organ donor
A convicted murderer who sought a reprieve so he could donate his liver to his ill sister was executed in May after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel was advised by doctors that Gregory Scott Johnson was not a good candidate to be a donor, and that his sister, Debra Otis, would likely receive a donor organ through regular channels within a matter of months. Johnson’s bid to become an organ donor resurrected debate about the ethics of accepting organs from condemned inmates.
The basis behind laws prohibiting inmates from donating organs is the question of whether an incarcerated person is free to make such decisions without pressure.
Johnson, 40, died by lethal injection, and the toxins used in that form of execution render organs unfit for transplantation. In his decision not to grant clemency, Daniels cited that doctors advised him Johnson was not a good candidate to be an organ donor because he was overweight and had possible exposure to hepatitis B. In addition, Otis’ condition, including the likelihood that the nonalcoholic cirrhosis that she suffers will require her to have a kidney transplant in addition to a liver transplant, makes her a better candidate to receive both organs from a single donor, doctors said.
A handful of other inmates have been permitted to donate kidneys to family members.
Woman in end-of-life fight dies, still on ventilator
A terminally ill woman whose daughter fought to keep her on life support died in early June, before a court-ordered date for her ventilator to be removed. Barbara Howe, 80, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, had been on life support at Massachusetts General Hospital since 1997. The hospital sought to remove her from the ventilator that kept her breathing, but her daughter, Carol Carvitt, sued to block the action. Howe was scheduled to be taken off the ventilator June 30. Howe died of complications of ALS.
In March, after a closed-door meeting with a judge, Carvitt and the hospital agreed to halt the ventilator, ending a two-year lawsuit between the two parties. Carvitt, Howe’s health care proxy, argued, though the hospital’s ethics committee ruled unanimously that the continued treatment was "inhumane," her mother was mentally alert, even though she could not speak, eat, or move. Carvitt said she agreed to the decision to remove the ventilator because she believed the court would rule against her.
High court: Rx marijuana users can be prosecuted
Federal authorities may prosecute sick people whose doctors prescribe marijuana to ease pain, the Supreme Court ruled in June, concluding that state laws don’t protect users from a federal ban on the drug. The decision is a defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug’s use to treat various illnesses. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.
The closely watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case involving two seriously ill California women who use marijuana. The court said the prosecution of pot users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional, though Stevens said the court was not passing judgment on the potential medical benefits of marijuana. In a dissent, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said states should be allowed to set their own rules.
"Our national medical system relies on proven scientific research, not popular opinion," John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy, stated in a press release upon the ruling. "To date, science and research have not determined that smoking marijuana is safe or effective."
California’s medical marijuana law, passed in 1996, allows people to grow, smoke, or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor’s recommendation. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have similar laws.
A convicted murderer who sought a reprieve so he could donate his liver to his ill sister was executed in May after Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniel was advised by doctors that Gregory Scott Johnson was not a good candidate to be a donor, and that his sister, Debra Otis, would likely receive a donor organ through regular channels within a matter of months. Johnsons bid to become an organ donor resurrected debate about the ethics of accepting organs from condemned inmates.Subscribe Now for Access
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