HEALTH - Kids Should Be at the Top of Transplant Lists

It amazes me that this is even an issue.  Of course kids should be first, which is way a judge had to intervene, and the use of the word 'flawed' is an understatement.

"Doctors Add Appeals Process for Kids Waiting for Adult Lung Transplants" PBS Newshour 6/11/2013

Excerpt

RAY SUAREZ (Newshour):  The cases of 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan and 11-year-old Javier Acosta have put a national spotlight on the issue.  Both have end-stage cystic fibrosis.  But they are at the bottom of a waiting list for a adult lungs because they're under 12.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Sarah Murnaghan's home state, says that has to change.

SEN. PAT TOOMEY, R-Penn.:  Sarah is being treated by some of the best doctors in the world, and they are convinced that she's an excellent candidate to have a successful transplant surgery.  It seems to me a policy that systemically excludes her and other children in her circumstances is a flawed policy.

RAY SUAREZ:  Last week, federal district Judge Michael Baylson in Philadelphia ordered a change in transplant policy for both cases, and said the children must be placed higher on the waiting list.  That prompted some doctors to say courts have no business deciding on medical matters.