A dying woman was refused a partial liver transplant offered by her own partner because she drank while on the waiting list.
Amanda Husk, 36, has been on life support for three months while waiting for the essential organ.
But he was refused the transplant after doctors discovered the troubled alcoholic had relapsed before being admitted to hospital.
Now her devastated loved ones learn she has only weeks to live, although Husk has agreed to participate in a drug program once she gets her new liver.
“It was a wake-up call for her that she wanted to take advantage of every benefit and every opportunity to make sure she could get this transplant and change her life,” her partner Nathan Allen told CTV News .
The 36-year-old man has been on life support for three months while waiting for the essential organ.
Amanda Husk was refused a liver transplant for drinking while on the waiting list.
Allen had offered to be a donor himself because he matches a blood type.
However, doctors at the University Health Network of Ontario refused the transplant request citing “minimal abstinence outside of the hospital.”
Allen’s next move is to try to get Husk to Europe where a transplant would be possible, but he fears she won’t survive that long.
“We were told last week that she had a few weeks to live, maybe a month if she was very lucky,” Allen said, explaining that treatment could cost $300,000.
“I will do everything I can to save his life, just like the medical profession should do here.”
Husk began drinking as a teenager and struggled to control his addiction.
This heartbreaking case has sparked ethical questions around addiction treatment.
Around 600 people are currently waiting for a liver transplant for various reasons. About one in ten people who received a transplant for alcoholic liver disease start drinking again.
Debra Selkirk, whose husband Mark died in 2010 after being denied a liver transplant due to alcohol, criticized the decision.
Allen had offered to be a donor himself because he has the same blood type
However, doctors at the University Health Network of Ontario refused the transplant request citing “minimal abstinence outside of the hospital.”
Allen now wants to take Husk to Europe for a transplant, but fears she won’t survive that long
Her partner Nathan Allen said she had committed to joining a drug program after receiving the transplant, but was refused.
“A life-saving procedure relies on perceived bad behavior,” she said.
“People aren’t being turned away because they didn’t exercise, because they worked too much, because they didn’t get enough sleep, or because they didn’t follow doctor’s orders.
“So in Nathan and Amanda’s case, you’re seeing someone being told, ‘You didn’t follow doctor’s orders, so we’re not going to help you.’ We’re going to let you die,” she said.
Selkirk is campaigning for more compassion for people suffering from liver failure caused by alcohol abuse.
Dr. Saumya Jayakumar, a liver transplant surgeon in Edmonton who was not involved in Husk’s case, explained that transplant criteria are generally fairly consistent across Canada.
“It’s a precious gift. It’s a limited resource,” she said. “As you can imagine, making these decisions can cause significant moral distress among team members.
“We can give you a brand new liver, but if we aren’t able to change all the circumstances that led to the liver failing, then have we really done you a favor? ” she says.
“I would say that all transplant centers in Canada have difficulty accessing mental health funding for patients and having access to mental health practitioners for transplant programs.” she says.
There were more than 45,000 deaths from liver disease in the United States in 2022, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Around 29,000 of the deaths were men, while the remaining 16,000 were women.
Husk began drinking as a teenager and struggled with addiction into adulthood.
His plight has raised ethical questions regarding the treatment of people with addiction issues.
Typically, alcoholic liver disease affects more men than women, but rates among women are increasing, along with more women drinking than before.
The disease, which causes abdominal pain, fatigue and jaundice among other symptoms, poses a higher mortality risk in women.
Investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai and their colleagues found that women with alcohol-related steatotic liver disease were almost twice as likely to die within a certain time frame as men. suffering from the same disease.
Doctors think this may be because women produce fewer anti-alcohol enzymes than men and generally have lower body mass and water content.
“We are unable to comment on specific cases due to patient confidentiality, but we can state that there are multiple living donor eligibility criteria, only two of which are blood type and willingness.” Recipient criteria are governed jointly by the transplant centers and the Trillium Gift of Life Network,” UHN officials said.
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