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The War on Drugs kills people . . . and not the ones you'd think

Tim Garon, lead singer for a Steely Dan cover band, has died because the University of Washington Medical Center denied him a liver transplant.

Why did they deny Tim a liver transplant?

Because he had used medical marijuana to control the pain.

Which is legal in Washington.

Here's the whole disturbing story from Reality Catcher (h/t Drug War Rant):

The national outrage continues at the treatment of Tim Garon, who was denied a liver transplant largely because, at the advice of his physician, he used medical marijuana, which is legal in the state of Washington.

The uproar has sent the University of Washington Medical Center into full damage-control mode. They are now desperately backpedaling away from their earlier admission that Garon was, in fact, denied the transplant because of medical marijuana.

UW officials now vaguely cite "other factors," but it's too late: Two separate physicians, including transplant chief Dr. Jorge Reyes, already admitted in an Associated Press story that marijuana was the reason.

In that story, Dr. Reyes said Garon was denied the transplant because he, Dr. Reyes, feared that Garon wouldn't be able to stop smoking marijuana after the operation. And another UW doctor claimed that marijuana commonly contains mold that could cause organ rejection in a transplant patient. Both of these, bereft as they are of logic, are tacit admissions that marijuana was, in fact, the reason Tim Garon was rejected as a transplant recipient.

Meanwhile, the spin control continues, with UW communications specialist Mary Guiden today emailing me, "Although medical marijuana may be an issue in rare cases, it is never the sole determinant in arriving at medical decisions about candidates for organ transplants, and whether a patient is listed."

Guiden went on to tell me "the Liver Transplant Committee looks at a number of other issues, including behavioral concerns such as a history of substance abuse or dependency. If such a history exists, then the Committee looks at the period of abstinence the candidate has demonstrated to date, efforts made to maintain this abstinence, and the potential to abuse again."

Seems we're back to Mary Jane again, Mary. You are attempting to frame the debate in terms of "substance abuse or dependency," when we are talking about doctor-recommended use of legal medical marijuana. You are attempting to impose the model of "abstinence, and the potential to abuse again"; that's trying to impose an addiction scenario on doctor-recommended medical usage of legal medicine. That is intellectually dishonest, and morally bankrupt: You are making it sound as if Tim Garon had been sucking down gallons of whiskey or scarfing down lines of coke. Tim wasn't abusing anything. He didn't need to "abstain" from anything. He was using medical marijuana.


The truly upsetting part about this one is that, as a Libertarian, I cannot blame the State, because the government in Washington had done the right thing: making medical marijuana legal. I cannot fault state legislators for not having the foresight to include a provision that medical professionals will not be allowed to discriminate against patients on the basis of their use of natural cannabis as an analgesic.

Comments

In this case one can't really fault state legislators. The medical marijuana law in Washington was written by a doctor with an interest in the matter who apparently composed it on his kitchen table one night and never thought to consult and legislative drafting support. It has a number of quirks and eccentricities in it, all a function of a man thinking he know =s more about law than people trained to draft such things so they avoid this kind of tragedy.
Anonymous said…
This is Brian- I asked my ex about this..... She reminded me that doctors are indoctrinated to believe that cannabis is a bogey man and use it for all kinds of denials and authoritarian restrictions. It is not just the government, it is a social movement that says "pot is bad" ergo those who use it for any reason "legal or illegal" are "bad" too and should be denied vital medical services.

This is not nearly as uncommon as it sounds. It is part of the total medical industrial complex attitude that you should not control your health. For example, I needed an anti-biotic, couldn't get that but got as many pain killers as I wanted- so I have an infection and fever. Thank god I have my own anti-biotics from my WHO doctor friend.

But who cares when you know best even if you do not see the patient and what a bother it is to hit the talk button on your On Star while you are cruising in your Lexus LS 460? And you are not even the primary doctor anyway.... can I talk to MY doctor, well not unless I get through 50 layers of bureaucracy and overcome my fever through my magic all healing Buddha tantra and am able to emit radiant rays of rainbow colored butter from the dhatu on my forehead.

Let us Gods of Olympus sing the praises of you Lovely Medical Industrial Complex let us worship thee for thine omnipotent goodness. Let this ode rise to Olympus and provide our mortal bodies as smoking sacrifice for your worship.

The Gods of Olympus and Asclepius have given thee all the tools and golf clubs and race cars and large homes in multiple places though neediest to work as little as possible after thine testing in residency when the Complex seeks to destroy your family life for the good of the profession.

We Gods on Olympus know that Hippocrates is not happy with you, but We have banished his goodness and oath to Tartarus in thine name Oh Glorious Medical Industrial Complex where they who smoke the evil Scythian drug cannabis are banished with their barbarian brethren laws or no laws. Amen.
Nancy Willing said…
Whoa, I hadn't read that the death was avoidable all but a fuss over medicial THC.

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