1) A California prison inmate received a donor heart

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1) A California prison inmate received a donor heart. He had suffered congestive heart failure the month before. The inmate was serving a 14-year sentence for robbery, and the transplant and treatment for his illness cost California taxpayers about $1 million. Medical professionals defended the transplant, saying the recipient met medical criteria. Prison officials cited a 1976 Supreme Court decision and a 1997 California ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals requiring them to meet inmate medical needs. Critics point out that, among other things, at the time of the surgery, more than 4,000 Americans were on a waiting list for heart transplants, and 700 would die that year waiting for one. The prison inmate died about a year after receiving the transplant. Prison authorities noted that the inmate had failed to maintain rigorous medical routines following the transplant.

Answer each letter with your explanation with your personal thoughts and from the information you learned from the textbook.

1. Should prison inmates be eligible for organ transplants? Why or why not?
2. Does it matter whether they can pay for them?
3. What does the law require prison officials to doabout organ transplants?
4. Should the "least eligibility" principle apply to organ transplants? Why or why not?
5. Should there be limits to the medical services provided to prison inmates and, if so, what should the limits be?

 

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