A Seattle man with advanced hepatitis C died on Thursday after being denied a liver transplant because he used medicinal marijuana. Timothy Garon, a 56-year-old musician, was previously authorized by Dr. Brad Rother to use pot to alleviate the nausea and abdominal pain associated with his illness. Despite the approval of the doctor, the University of Washington Medical Center committee denied Garon for a transplant solely due to his cannabis use.
Garon was previously rejected for a transplant by the Swedish Medical Center for the same reason. Swedish offered to reconsider if Garon completed a 60-day substance abuse course, but according to his attorney his condition was so deteriorated that the hospital's overture was virtually worthless.
Although using medicinal marijuana is legal with a prescription in Washington and eleven other states, possession of the drug is still illegal under federal law. The criteria for organ transplants are most often left up to individual hospitals, and most either outright reject or look unfavorably upon those who have used "illicit substances"--including pot.
Garon, the lead singer for Nearly Dan, a Steely Dan cover-band, has stated that he likely contracted hepatitis C through needle sharing while using speed as a teenager. He said that the only drug he used in recent years was pot. "I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just confused," he said about the decision to deny him the transplant.
According to health officials, the drugs patients take to help their bodies accept a new organ
increase the risk of aspergillosis, a frequently fatal infection caused
by a common mold found in marijuana and tobacco. Additionally, doctors believed Garon's pot use may have been evidence of an addictive personality.
But, marijuana advocates decry the decision to deny a patient an organ transplant because of cannabis as patenly unfair. A blog on the website of the marijuana advocacy group NORML says that quotes from officials at the University of Washington Medical Center showed, "an astonishing lack of understanding about cannabis," and revealed worries about Garon being "unable to control a so-called addiction to cannabis."
"A man is dead today because of ignorance about medical marijuana, stereotypes against responsible cannabis users, and the cruel federal prohibition of the most helpful plant known to mankind," the post concludes.
