From 12/1/2003
The United States Constitution protects the rights and freedoms of all Americans. Even those Americans who are in prisons for convicted crimes. The Eighth Amendment states that "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment." Under the Eighth Amendment punishment must generally be proportional to the crime committed.
The Supreme Court has also ruled that the Eighth Amendment prohibits inhumane prison conditions. Even though it was inhumane acts of violence that got them into prison in the first place. Prisons are also responsible for inmates' health care, held the Court in Estelle v. Gamble (1976).
According to a feature story ABC news (columnists Judy Muller and Peter Imber) conducted on Transplants for Prisoners on March 2, 2002, "there is an ongoing debate in US history on the degree of human rights prisoners are entitled to, particularly in regard to health care. This debate is even more controversial in the area of transplantation, since organ transplantation, unlike other medical therapies, requires an actual human supply of resources."
CBS conducted a feature story on health care in February 2002 about an incident that occurred in Sacramento, California in January 2002. A prison inmate serving 14 years for robbery received a taxpayer-supported transplant costing approximately $1 million with follow-up care, while 500 law abiding Californians and 4,000 other Americans waited for hearts. The operation saved the 31-year-old thief from dying of a viral heart condition. What about the father of three working two jobs to support his family and pay for his wife's medical bills due to her heart condition, knowing that she will only survive if she gets a new heart in less than a year.
"You have to wonder if a law-abiding, taxpaying citizen drew one last breath while Jailhouse Joe was getting a second wind," wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez. According to Dr. Lawrence Schneiderman, medical professor at the University of California, San Diego, commented on the case stating "Medically, we have no reason to deny him. Socially, he violated society, but not so severely that he gives up his right to experience medical care. Doctors in medical practice don't have a right to make social decisions. If it's a limited resource, our choice should be who it will help the most."
Because apparently it will help an inmate so much more than a hardworking, free American who has to raise three children.
The inmate who received the heart was involved in a 1996 robbery in Los Angeles County, eight months after he was released from prison for burglary, and he wasn't eligible for parole until 2008.
So my fellow Americans, it seems as though to get a push up the waiting list for organs you need to commit a couple of crimes and become incarcerated. How inspiring!
The practice of giving convicts transplants is giving them more benefits than the general public. The denial of transplants should be part of the sentence or punishment for the crime which the prisoner has been sentenced.
"Prisoners forfeit their rights when convicted of committing crimes - their freedom, the right to vote, etc. -- why should they gain a new right to health care when they are imprisoned."
One in four (free) Americans do not have health care. But all 6.6 million men and women that made up the correctional population at the end of 2001 did under federal law which entitles prisoners to adequate medical care.
"Every civilized country provides health care to their inmates," said Ron Shansky, a consultant on health care for the California Department of Corrections. "The problem is all the other civilized countries guarantee health care for ALL their citizens."
And we think Canadians are weird?
In reality many inmates receive much better medical care when they are incarcerated than they had when they were free.
The reality of this situation was not lost on 41-year-old Frank Salgado of Las Vegas, Nevada. http://www.viewnews.com/2002/VIEW-May-01-Wed-2002/Summerlin/18592358.html
At the time of this initial report he was suffering from congestive heart failure and initially couldn't get on the transplant list because of money. When Salgado tried to get financial clearance for the procedure from his health insurance company, it claimed he had not been forthcoming with information about how serious his heart disease actually was in his application and his insurance company cancelled it.
He then raised $150,000 through fund raisers to get a place on the list. "I've paid my taxes for over 20-something years, been a good citizen, a good person in the community and I don't qualify for any help at all," Salgado said. "If I rob a bank and I get away with it, then hopefully I'll have the money for a heart transplant. If I get caught I'll go to jail and because I need a heart transplant they will take care of me. I'll get a heart and it will be paid for."
Whether Salgado ever received his life-saving transplant, I do not know, as no current information on him was located.
Prisoners are in fact less deserving and contribute less to society than honest members of the community and should therefore be passed over in consideration for limited organs.
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