On Dick Cheney getting a heart transplant

[Cirque du So-What]

For the most part, I've stayed on the sidelines over the controversy surrounding his heart transplant, and I don't want to second-guess the process by which he obtained the procedure.

My concern is that some people may become disinclined to become organ donors or else rescind their donor status. I sincerely hope this doesn't become the case. As there is no way that a person or his/her family can exercise authority over where the donated organs are utilized, it is virtually a 'crap shoot' whether they are utilized by a saintly individual or someone as reprehensible as The Dick of Death. I view organ donation as a 'selfless' gesture, so I hope that people don't become so repulsed by the thought of their organs going to someone they don't like that it influences their decision to donate at all.

[JohnnyRingo]

1. I'm not a donor

I've pretty much used up my organs through a long lifetime of raucous and sinful behavior, but if I were a donor, I'd consider a legal rider that contains a list of people who can die before they use anything I'm done with. I'm not limiting this rider to organs, but in the case of people like Cheney I'd ban them from receiving other items like clothing, jewelry, and half used pencils.

If I die tomorrow, I don't want to wait too long before our cage match in Hell. Sure, I can probably spar for awhile with Mussolini and work out on the Jeffery Dahmer speed bag head, but I won't need too much more training to beat Dick Cheney's ass down the path of molten magma and boot it into the river Styx. Hopefully, he'll get there long before me and will be pretty worn down by the more athletic murderers than himself by the time I arrive.

It's clear that I'm just a bit short on humanity for the former veep, but if there's even one ten year old little girl somewhere in the country who could have used that heart to live a longer life, I'm not at all happy with this transplant.

I share your concern that publicized transplants like this may discourage some from donating. It makes sense. I recall the backlash when Mickey Mantle received a graciously donated liver and proceeded to openly drink that fresh organ to death in public bars. He was a universally loved sports icon who never hurt anyone in his life, but he famously didn't do much to convince people to donate.

[onenote]

2. the fact you think a 10 year old girl could use the same heart as a 71 year old male

shows how little you actually know about transplants.

As for your "legal rider" -- good luck with that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. You seriosly think am adult heart fits in the chest cavity

Of a ten year old? Free clue it does not. That heart would only fit in an adult chest cavity.

That comment alone tells me how little you know of this. The web is rich in information, might be good to get educated.

[JohnnyRingo]

7. I don't need a sheepskin in cardiology to know there has to be a more deserving recipient

Indeed, there have to be legions of patients who would be a better choice, based not only on moral grounds, but people who would likely enjoy the gift longer.

If it serves my point, I'll change the example to a 35 year old male who led a productive life and could use more time.

Considering the life I've led to date, I wouldn't dream of being a viable candidate for transplant, and rightly so, but I'd rather see that heart Chaney got used to save a stray dog.
Oops, there I go displaying my medical ignorance again.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. It is a good thing you are all

For dead panes.

I got no clue what it will take for peope to understand, politics and medicine do not mix.

Next time people here complain of the right mixing politics and medicine I will just laugh.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. I am a donor and will not change that status

It be stupid to do so given this donation.

[frazzled]

5. I've stayed on the sidelines, too, but my concern has been this

I'm concerned about the disregard that has been shown here for the realm of medical ethics, which should be neutral. Physicians should not be the arbiters of who was "good enough" or "deserves" an organ transplant or other procedure. Other than the question of benefits (no, this would not benefit an 89-year-old, but 71 is not old, and the procedure may indeed be beneficial), anyone who would qualify for a transplant should be blindly considered, regardless of political persuasion, criminal history, obnoxiousness, or any other factor.

My distaste for Dick Cheney, the person and the political figure, is as great as anyone's here. But that should not be a factor in considering whether he should have been eligible for a transplant. What if some conservative doctor or medical board decided that Bernie Sanders (who is also 71 in a few months) was a socialist "scum" who didn't deserve to have his life saved by an organ transplant? Or that he was "too old"? What if it were you needing a liver transplant, and your past history of drinking made a committee decide to reject you for "bad behavior"? What if race or religion factored into these decisions (a "good Christian" gets the organ ahead of a Muslim, Jew, or atheist)?

I'm not an expert in medical ethics, but my common sense tells me that we do not play god with these things. We are not the judges and arbiters of who is good and bad when it comes to medical decisions. I'm a little shocked and saddened at the short-sighted and often hate-filled postings I've seen on this matter. It's not about Dick Cheney, it's about whether even criminals or people who have had bad habits in the past, or controversial positions, should be afforded the same health care as anyone else. That should be the liberal, progressive position. That's not what we've seen these past few days.

[aptal]

6. Very good post!

You said what I have wanted to after reading some of the very distasteful threads on this matter.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. + brazillion

You get it.

[dregstudios]

10. Pure Evil

Cheney is one of the evilest men to ever take public office in the United States. He shouldn’t have gotten the special treatment in finding a donor to replace his dark and morbid heart at his age and keep his monstrous ideology alive . Dick took war profiteering and sick capitalist greed to an entirely lower level during his terms in the White House. See how he architected the dropping of the World Trade Center for profit at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2010/04/inside-job.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. What special treatment?

I might not like Dick personally, but politics and medicine should not mix.