quote:

The story of Anthony Stokes was supposed to have a happy ending. Instead it ended Tuesday, police say, with the teen heart transplant recipient carjacking someone, burglarizing a home, shooting at an elderly woman, leading police on a high speed chase and then dying after his car hit a pole.

In 2013, the teen’s family told media that an Atlanta hospital rejected him for heart transplant surgery due to what the hospital described in a letter as Stokes’ “history of non-compliance.”

At the time, Mark Bell was acting as a Stokes family spokesman.

Bell told CNN that a doctor told the family that Anthony’s low grades and time in juvenile detention factored into the hospital’s decision to deny him a heart.

“The doctor made the decision that he wasn’t a good candidate because of that,” Bell said then. “I guess he didn’t think Anthony was going to be a productive citizen.”

About a week after Stokes’ story made headlines, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta gave him a heart.

On Tuesday, Stokes carjacked someone at a mall, kicked in the door of a home in Roswell, Georgia, and fired a shot at an elderly woman, who called 911, said Roswell police spokeswoman Lisa Holland.

Stokes drove away in a black SUV, she said. Police spotted the car and ran its plates which showed it had been stolen.

Police chased the vehicle.

Stokes lost control of the car, hit a pedestrian and then a pole, Holland said. The vehicle was nearly halved, she said.

The pedestrian is stable and in good condition, according to CNN affiliate WSB.

Stokes died at a hospital, Holland said.

In 2013, Stokes’ family provided media with a letter they said was from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

“Anthony is currently not a transplant candidate due to having a history of noncompliance, which is one of our center’s contraindications to listing for heart transplant,” it read.

Assessing compliance for potential transplant recipients is important because if a patient doesn’t strictly take all required medicines as directed, he or she could die within weeks of leaving the hospital, said Dr. Ryan Davies, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware, told CNN.

Davies was not involved with this case.

When Stokes’ family was trying to get him a heart, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference advocated for the teen.

SCLC’s the Rev. Samuel Mosteller told CNN that he was disappointed. “We got this young man a second chance in life,” he said.

SCLC referred the teenager to a mentor program in the Atlanta area, but Mosteller said that he wasn’t sure if the teenager participated. “What happened between the time in 2013 to now, I don’t really know,” he said. “How much Anthony recognized the gravity of things and did what he needed to do to make himself a viable citizen, I don’t know. But we tried.”

quote:

been added to the list for a heart transplant.

Anthony Stokes is in desperate need of a heart transplant, but doctors initially said he didn't qualify for the transplant list.

The family of the DeKalb County teen called Channel 2's Tony Thomas with the update Tuesday afternoon, three days after the story aired on Channel 2 Action News.

Stokes is receiving treatment at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

Doctors told his family that Anthony has less than six months to live, but he couldn't be put on the transplant list because of a history of non-compliance.

"They said they don't have any evidence that he would take his medicine or that he would go to his follow-ups," said Melencia Hamilton, Anthony's mother.

Hamilton told Thomas that the transplant is the only fix for her son's enlarged heart.

Keepers of the nation's transplant list have strict guidelines about who qualifies, and while doctors didn't specify the reason, family friends told Thomas they've been told it's partly because Anthony has had low grades and trouble with the law.

"The non-compliance is fabricating, because they don't want to give him a heart," family friend Mack Major told Thomas. "This is unacceptable because he must lose his life because of a non-compliance."

"They've given him a death sentence," said Christine Young Brown, president of the Newton Rockdale County SCLC.

In a statement this weekend, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta spokeswoman Patty Gregory said in a statement, "The well-being of our patients is always our first priority. We are continuing to work with this family and looking at all options regarding this patient's health care. We follow very specific criteria in determining eligibility for a transplant of any kind."

"I know it's wrong, because if they get to know him, they would love him," Hamilton said.

Anthony has been at the hospital since July 14. Family members told Thomas he could be sent home soon and kept on his medication.

Stay with Channel 2 Action News throughout the day for updates on this developing story.

.....
In a Channel 2 Action News exclusive, the DeKalb County teenager at the center of that controversy about a heart transplant talked with us about his second chance at life.
We first told you this summer, Anthony Stokes was at first denied the transplant when hospital officials learned he had a troubled past. Stokes spent time with Channel 2's Jovita Moore and he told her he's grateful to have another chance.

Moore we requested the interview to find out how bad could this boy be that he would be denied a heart. His mother said it was only recently that Stokes learned the details of the controversy surrounding his new heart.

He had a small bandage on his neck, the only visible sign of the life-saving heart transplant Stokes underwent nearly two months ago.

Stokes' case gained national attention, after Children's Healthcare of Atlanta rejected the 15-year-old as a transplant candidate because they learned he had a juvenile record.

Stokes told Moore he had gotten into trouble after some fights at school. He said he forgives the hospital for judging him.

"Because God, he like, said forgive," Stokes said.

Stokes said deserves a second chance because he has the rest of his life to live.

"So I can live. A second chance. Get a second chance and do, do things I want to do," Stoke said.

Stokes said he plans to finish high school, attend college and start his own computer business. He said he's going to stay out of trouble.

Helping Stokes stay on track is Mack Major, who runs a mentoring organization and has known Stokes for several years.

"He loves to play chess. He does things I can't even do, I just try to encourage him to keep doing things like that," Major said.

Stokes said he's thankful to the family whose loved one's heart is now beating strongly in his chest.

"I want to thank them for giving me the opportunity to live," he said.

In a few days, Stokes is expected to be released from the hospital. So far, he's not showing any signs of rejecting his new heart.

Schizotek posted:

Did this black teenager really deserve a heart that could have gone to a 90 year old white millionaire who made his fortune off the backs of east Asian slave labor? makes u think

Mandy Thompson posted:

Articles from 2 years ago


I think this raises some interesting but troubling questions about morality and ethics. Should Anthony have been denied the heart? We know the ultimate result was a net negative. The young man went on to waste his life, harm others, and ultimately died with a heart that could have gone to someone else. But the people who advocated for him didn't know that at the time. Was it just, given the knowledge they had at the time? The SCLC advocated on his behalf, when he was 15. At the time, he had a history of getting in to fights at school. They even tried to link him to a mentor.

I actually am not sure what the right thing to have done was. So many children are headed in the same direction. And some of them do make it. With the right combination of supervision, parenting, mentoring, and that pesky "free will" if that is even a thing. I worry that the next Anthony will be rejected for a transplant who could have turned his life around. There is also the inequality factor of how he got to be a bad kid in the first place. Perhaps its because he didn't have the same opportunities as children with better luck, not living in poverty. And where was the parent? How in the gently caress was he allowed to be unsupervised and able to get a gun? Who gave him a gun? Should we be deciding that kids with emotional and behavior disabilities should be given the automatic death sentence of being denied a transplant? Would we will that standard for everyone with a disability?

quote:

People who receive transplants must adhere to strict medication regimens to keep their bodies from rejecting the organs. A person can be disqualified if hospital officials think the patient won’t stick to that regimen, has no support system or an inability to pay for expensive anti-rejection medicines.

on the left posted:

Mandy Thompson posted:

There is a standing question about whether right and wrong should be based on consequences or if it should be based on rules that you don't break. I've been thinking more about it and I just cannot in good conscience sentence a teen to death by denying him a heart transplant on the basis that he is a delinquent. It wouldn't be the Christian thing to do. And supposing the teen survived the carjacking incident, its really unlikely we would put him to death, a lengthy prison sentence to be sure but not death. His crimes were stupid but not worth dying over.

Typical Pubbie posted:

lovely story but I don't see how Stokes' criminal behavior later in life has anything to do with the decision to give him a heart transplant.

Mandy Thompson posted:

That's when they aren't buying the organs off the black market that were harvested from Chinese union organizers and Falun Gong practitioners.

Typical Pubbie posted:

lovely story but I don't see how Stokes' criminal behavior later in life has anything to do with the decision to give him a heart transplant.

ReidRansom posted:

Right, well it was his criminal behavior before the transplant that doctors were considering.

quote:

Before he was old enough to drive, he was required to wear an ankle monitor.

DeKalb Police arrested Stokes 11 times between 2010 and 2015, said Capt. Steve Fore. The charges included burglary, auto theft, weapons charges, terroristic threats. He had a burglary and truancy charge in 2010 as well as another burglary charge of a home in December 2012 and he picked up another burglary charge in February 2013, six months before the transplant controversy erupted, Fore said.

In April of that year police stopped a Tahoe with Stokes and two other teens because someone complained the group had fired a gun several times after a disagreement. The arresting officer found two stolen pistols and also arrested Stokes for an outstanding arson warrant, the report said.

Shbobdb posted:

The problem with deciding who to treat and who not to treat is where do we draw the line? In a capitalist society, we value worth by money. So it makes sense for the most worthy to be able to get the organs they need on the free market. Most people find this idea offensive. So, then, how do we do it? Triage based on survival should clearly play a role, people who need the organ now should be given priority over those who will need the organ sometime in the future. Likewise, it seems reasonable to prioritize those who are likely to have a long life over those who are likely to die soon of other natural causes, so we should favor the young over the elderly and the comparatively healthy over the comparatively sick. After that, how do we decide? Should a Catholic hospital (of which there are many) prioritize Catholic patients over other patients?

OPTN posted:

More than 120,000 people in the U.S. are waiting to receive a life-giving organ transplant. We simply don't have enough donated organs to transplant everyone in need, so we balance factors of:

justice (fair consideration of candidates' circumstances and medical needs), and
medical utility (trying to increase the number of transplants performed and the length of time patients and organs survive).
Many factors used to match organs with patients in need are the same for all organs, but the system must accommodate some unique differences for each organ.

The First Step
Before an organ is allocated, all transplant candidates on the waiting list that are incompatible with the donor because of blood type, height, weight and other medical factors are automatically screened from any potential matches. Then, the computer application determines the order that the other candidates will receive offers, according to national policies.

Geography Plays a Part
There are 58 local donor service areas and 11 regions that are used for U.S. organ allocation. Hearts and lungs have less time to be transplanted, so we use a radius from the donor hospital instead of regions when allocating those organs.

The Right-Sized Organ
Proper organ size is critical to a successful transplant, which means that children often respond better to child-sized organs. Although pediatric candidates have their own unique scoring system, children essentially are first in line for other children's organs.

Factors in Organ Allocation
Blood type and other medical factors weigh into the allocation of every donated organ, but, other factors are unique to each organ-type.

KIDNEY

Waiting time
Donor/recipient immune system incompatibility
Pediatric status
Prior living donor
How far from donor hospital
Survival benefit (starting in 2015)
HEART

Medical need
How far from donor hospital
LUNG

Survival benefit
Medical urgency
Waiting time
Distance from donor hospital
LIVER

Medical need
Distance from donor hospital
Preserving organs*
Donated organs require special methods of preservation to keep them viable between the time of procurement and transplantation.

COMMON MAXIMUM ORGAN PRESERVATION TIMES

Heart, lung: 4-6 hours
Liver: 8-12 hours
Pancreas: 12-18 hours
Kidney: 24-36 hours

http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/learn/about-transplantation/how-organ-allocation-works/

Getao posted:

wait I'm confused. These events were almost two years after the heart transplant -- is that enough time for us to say that he was compliant taking his drugs?

murphyslaw posted:

While this poo poo head wasting a heart that could have saved a better person is infuriating, I'd rather have activists and people who occasionally gently caress up and champion the cause of the wrong people rather than have none to do that at all.

murphyslaw posted:

While this poo poo head wasting a heart that could have saved a better person is infuriating, I'd rather have activists and people who occasionally gently caress up and champion the cause of the wrong people rather than have none to do that at all.

murphyslaw posted:

While this poo poo head wasting a heart that could have saved a better person is infuriating, I'd rather have activists and people who occasionally gently caress up and champion the cause of the wrong people rather than have none to do that at all.

murphyslaw posted:

While this poo poo head wasting a heart that could have saved a better person is infuriating, I'd rather have activists and people who occasionally gently caress up and champion the cause of the wrong people rather than have none to do that at all.

ReidRansom posted:

Fair enough. But this a system for dealing with scarcity; championing one person necessarily denies another that resource, maybe at the cost of their life.

Volkerball posted:

And in this case, it did, but really how many times could this have happened? I'd bet money it's 2, maybe 3 tops. Most likely just the 1. It sucks, but it's also not exactly an epidemic. In every other case I can think of, the biggest victims from a movement getting one wrong as part of an overall noble goal is the activists themselves.

The Oldest Man posted:

Conversely the hospital should have stuck to its guns in the face of that activism. They decided that they'd rather let activists decide transplant policy than defend their own transplant policy in the media, and well it turns out the death panels may actually have some idea of what they're talking about.

VitalSigns posted:

We really shouldn't be denying people a heart transplant because they might die in a car accident, since that's one of the most likely situations where you'll be getting the heart back.


Non-compliance with rejection meds will destroy the heart of course, but this guy was obviously complying so no issues there.