Lung Transplant May Let Child Live

A judge granted a temporary restraining order filed by parents of Sara Murtaugh against the Department of Health and Human Services, says CNN , which may allow child to live.

Sarah has been previously denied the chance to receive a lung transplant because the Department has regulations that do not allow an adult lung to be transplanted into a child’s body.

Sarah has been waiting two years for a transplant.  She has not gotten one because she is under 12 years old 12 year is the cutoff for a child to be eligible for a long transplant from an adult.  The Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sabelius has claimed that she can do nothing to change the regulations restricting Sarah from receiving a lung transplant.

Sarah’s parents had filed suit against HHS to force the agency to correct its policy preventing children under 12 from receiving an adult lung.  The court’s granting of a temporary restraining order has placed Sara in the 99^th percentile for receipt of a lung.  This ruling allows any child under 12 years old to receive an adult lung.  The court opined that the child should be eligible for a transplant in accordance with the severity of her sickness, rather than her age.

Sarah’s position has informed her parents that the transplant of an adult’s lung into a child is more complex but can be accomplished.

Even occupying the 99^th percentile, Saran has only a 75% chance of receiving a lung transplant the immediate future.

CNN has determined that Sabelius does have the power to change this regulation.  Sarah has only a few weeks to live without a lung transplant.  Hopefully this legal decision will allow her to live.

Written by:  Tom Ukinski