Thoughts on Paul Corby- the 23 year old man who was not allowed on the transplant list because of his autism
Written on 8th Feb 2014 by Sylvia Lowery
Alex has always said he couldn’t ever cope with the thought of an organ transplant, he says the mention of the word heart, lungs or any body part makes him feel really horrible. To read more about this see here.Yet this case is about the denial of a life saving treatment because an individual has autism.
Alex says, “The thought of having someone else’s organs is gross. If I had someone else’s organs for the rest of my life I wouldn’t feel right. If I was in that situation I think I would rather die than get an organ transplant. I know I’m not in that situation at the moment so I might change my mind. I am not scared of dying but rather how I die. I think it’s terrible if someone is really denied medical treatment just because they have autism but I would need to know the reasons. I don’t think I could cope with all the follow up care for the rest of my life either. I am a Christian and I know I would go straight to heaven if I die. I would rather someone else had the opportunity to live a few years longer.”
To learn about this case click here.
The first point to make is that we only have access to the information from the media and it’s difficult to make a judgement on this medical decision without knowing all the facts. The real question to be asked about this case is whether those who have autism receiver a lower quality care because of their disability and do all disabled people face the same hurdles?
A number of disability organisations claim that there is a growing hatred or those who have disabilities which is being cause through a media frenzy of headlines that about false benefit claimants.
The government have been working hard to cut benefits and to encourage as many who can work to work. This is a good thing and Access to work do a good job in helping those with disabilities to work. Yet the general public are easily controlled by the media and disability attack have risen in line with this changing attitude towards disability. A survey claims that disabled people have faced increasing hostility in the UK over the last few years.
Examples of times when disabled people have been mistreated or denied help
Hitler murdered the sick and disabled before he started on the mass extermination of the Jews. This was based on the Eugenic movement and sought to eliminate the weakest from society. The euphemism ‘mercy killing’ was the term used to sanitise this terrible practise. There was a strong Eugenic movement in the UK and US well before Hitler took over Nazi Germany.
Over 40% of children with autism have been bullied. You can read articles on bullying here , here and here
Last year a councillor in Cornwall had to resign for claiming disabled children should be ‘put down.’ Yes you read me correctly Colin Brewer made this statement because he said these children cost the council too much money.
There are 600 infant deaths in the Netherlands that are brought about by euthanasia that is triggered by disability.
Alex has always received good medical care.
Are those with autism given a second class treatment from the NHS in the UK?
It is very difficult to gather statistics because Dr’s make medical decisions and patient confidentiality makes it impossible to know if these decisions are purely based on clinical need.
Alex has always received good medical attention from the NHS. He is provided with gluten free food and a number of allergy and asthma medications and our GP will always make time to see him if his asthma seems out of control. However this isn’t the same as being placed on a transplant list or getting a treatment for a serious medical condition. I feel this issue is complex because a person who receives a transplant has to be able to cope with a lot of pain and discomfort and will have to take a lot of drugs for the rest of their life. There is also a great risk of cancer and infections with the patient needing to follow very strict dietary rules. This means that an individual who cannot keep up with this regime is at risk of rejecting the organ.
Paul Corby
It is wrong to refuse medical treatment based upon an individuals disability but this has to be factored in when deciding who can be given a transplant organ. Every decision to give someone an organ will mean someone else has been denied the organ and will die. This is a very difficult decision for Doctors and all aspects need to be considered, the case of Paul Corby very sad and I hope that the decision was made on medical grounds and not because he has autism. My heart goes out to him and his family and I will be remembering them at this very difficult time.
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doctors and other medical staff don’t always have enough information about Autism. each person is an individual and should be treated as one. if Paul has not been put on the organ transplant I hope that is not because of his autism. the after care from a transplant has it says above would be difficult.