# Family says DeKalb teen being denied heart transplant **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139 "2013-08-13T15:38:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/241 "2015-04-07T23:27:20Z")
I believe he’s stated in the past that he wouldn’t risk his life to save his own child, wouldn’t even bother unlocking a gate to free slaves (at no risk to himself), and would turn in someone who was hiding Jews during the Holocaust. (See his thread in the Pit). The guy is perfectly willing to have other people risk their lives for him, but absolutely refuses to do the same for anyone else. Dispicable. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/242 "2015-04-07T23:54:46Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I believe he’s stated in the past that he wouldn’t risk his life to save his own child, wouldn’t even bother unlocking a gate to free slaves (at no risk to himself), and would turn in someone who was hiding Jews during the Holocaust. (See his thread in the Pit). The guy is perfectly willing to have other people risk their lives for him, but absolutely refuses to do the same for anyone else. Dispicable. And if you have pain that cannot be alleviated, you just “deal with it” (see his post #21): [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737787&highlight=brittany+maynard](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=737787&highlight=brittany+maynard) No compassion. No mercy. No exemptions. No mitigating circumstances. And yet he’s all about keeping people “alive” because suicide is “always wrong.” That’s **Smapti’s** world. It’s a scary place. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/243 "2015-04-08T01:01:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I believe he’s stated in the past that he wouldn’t risk his life to save his own child, wouldn’t even bother unlocking a gate to free slaves (at no risk to himself), and would turn in someone who was hiding Jews during the Holocaust. (See his thread in the Pit). The guy is perfectly willing to have other people risk their lives for him, but absolutely refuses to do the same for anyone else. Dispicable. Ah. Thanks. That illuminates quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/244 "2015-04-08T01:55:37Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > The guy is perfectly willing to have other people risk their lives for him, but absolutely refuses to do the same for anyone else. _Nobody_ has any moral obligation to risk their own life for the sake of someone else’s. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/245 "2015-04-08T02:12:40Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Nobody_ has any moral obligation to risk their own life for the sake of someone else’s. Yet we all have a moral obligation to live in unremitting pain and suffering to avoid making you feel bad? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/246 "2015-04-08T02:43:43Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Yet we all have a moral obligation to live in unremitting pain and suffering to avoid making you feel bad? We all have an obligation to _live_. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/247 "2015-04-08T02:53:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We all have an obligation to _live_. An obligation to whom? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19adc/32.png) [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Why_Bother)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/248 "2015-04-08T09:15:09Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We all have an obligation to _live_. No we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/249 "2015-04-08T09:43:21Z")
People and physicians have gamed the system since it was founded. [Here’s an article](http://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2004/albany_medical_center_release_05_28_2004.htm) about a hospital that was fined for essentially filing false medical information to move its patients up the list. I remembered this because I was living near Albany at the time. As I recall, a physician involved ended up having his transplant privileges revoked, so there is at least some oversight. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/250 "2015-04-09T06:35:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We all have an obligation to _live_. Why? See post #240 (which is a re-post). Then tell Patsy (if you were able to do so) why she’s obligated to live when her life is going to be nothing but pure hell. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/251 "2015-04-10T06:02:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Nobody_ has any moral obligation to risk their own life for the sake of someone else’s. Then you shouldn’t expect anyone to do so on your behalf, including the police, doctors, soldiers, etc. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/252 "2015-04-10T22:09:17Z")
Is **Smapti** really worth the effort? This is like people rubber necking at horrible car wrecks - just gotta see every last bit of gore… ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/253 "2015-04-11T03:28:18Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Is **Smapti** really worth the effort? > > This is like people rubber necking at horrible car wrecks - just gotta see every last bit of gore… Have you seen Al “Is that a cheesecake” Gore lately? He’s as big as an energy efficient house. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/254 "2018-08-01T13:05:42Z")
I’m just going to put [this](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/anthony-stokes-teen-who-got-heart-transplant-dies-car-chase-n334001)here and tiptoe away. Well actually not before saying that hard cases make bad law. > [@](#): > > A suburban Atlanta teenager who received national attention two years ago after doctors turned down his request for a heart transplant was killed Tuesday in a high-speed police chase. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/255 "2018-08-01T14:56:10Z")
That happened three years ago and the entire second half of the thread was devoted to discussing it. ---
**Author:** ![justanothermike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@justanothermike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justanothermike)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/256 "2018-08-01T16:28:12Z")
Wow, I had never seen this story when it first came around. How awful that bleeding hearts (no way around that pun) pushed for something so they could be the saviors of this boy because they know better only to show that they didn’t. It’s reflective of one side of politics today that tries to overstep and fix lives of other people to feel good about themselves no matter the outcome. When people show you who they are, believe them until they show you different. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139/257 "2018-08-01T18:28:34Z")
Talk about a zombie update to a zombie thread!! Geez!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transplant/666139.md?page=12)