Pennsylvania Considering Liver Transplant for Prisoner

Pennsylvania is considering whether a prisoner with hepatitis C should undergo a liver transplant at taxpayers' expense. A transplant committee has deemed a transplant necessary for the unidentified male inmate, who is serving a five-year prison sentence in Delaware County for robbery, said state Sen. Allen Kukovich, who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The inmate has end-stage liver disease as a result of hepatitis C, said Dr. Frederick Maue, medical director for the state Department of Corrections. Kukovich said the corrections department has not decided whether to allow the procedure, which costs from $250,000 to $500,000 and can reach $1 million if complications arise. If the department approves the transplant, the inmate would be placed anonymously on a waiting list with more than 17,000 people in the nation, including 1,441 in Pennsylvania. In 2001, medical records show that less than one-third of people needing transplants received them.

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