Above is a link to an article published in The Guardian over the weekend that writes about Gary Reinbach, a 22 year old who died from liver failure last week. The article discusses his mothers experience of her son's drinking and ultimately his death as well as more general issues, such as should an alcoholic be given a liver transplant if there is a chance they may start to drink again? Surely there is always a chance that an addict will return to drinking or using, but they deserve the opportunity to get into recovery and that requires specialist help.
“Gary Reinbach was denied a transplant because, under guidelines drawn up by the Liver Advisory Group, patients who are likely to return to a damaging pattern of alcohol consumption aren't deemed suitable candidates.”
As Gary's mother discusses and reject, the population have attributed a far proportion of blame to her for Gary's death, but it is also clear that if Gary was eligible for a transplant he may well still be alive, so who should decide if someone should or should not be given a second chance? A key point is that if more alcoholics were treated in suitable rehab clinics then there would not be so much demand for livers or indeed so many alcohol related deaths.
What is most shocking about this tragic story is that a man aged 22 years old could die from a condition that is widely associated with older people who have 40 years old alcohol abuse under their belts. Indeed, even Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist has been shocked by the number of liver failure cases he has seen in young people.
“What Luke and his mates have discovered the hard way is what liver specialists like Dr Nick Sheron, of Southampton General hospital, have been saying for some time: that young people who abuse alcohol heavily will suffer the same consequences that older people who've been abusing it for many years do; in other words, their livers will fail.
"I became a liver specialist 15 years ago, and I remember how shocked I was when I first saw a man of 23 with liver failure. But this year already I've seen five people with it in their early 20s. Gary isn't going to be the last death. We're going to see a lot more young people in this state over the next few years.
The lost of this young man's life not only highlights the severity of alcohol abuse, but also emphasises the need for people who are experiencing problems with alcohol to seek help no matter how old they are.
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ReplyDeleteGary Reinbach's death although tragic should hopefully lead other parents to question their children's drinking habits. Gary, in his last few months was drinking at least 3 bottles of Vodka per day. Whilst this is not a normal amount of alcohol for a young person or indeed anyone, surely somebody should have got him some form of effective treatment - this amount of alcohol is going to kill anyone.
ReplyDeleteThe real disgrace is that his drinking was allowed to develop over a number of years from the age of 16 to 22 at least. During that time, if he were given an appropriate treatment programme, it is highly likely he would be alive today. But his situation appears to have been ignored by the medical community.
I'm not going near the ethical argument of whether or not he should have been given a transplant, but those really stupid people who reportedly tore up their donor cards because of this case - Why? He didn't get a transplant - should take a very serious look at themselves. Since when did we start applying caveats as to who gets our donated organs?
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