[url]http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/06/16/oregon.transplant.reut/index.html[/url]

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) -- Oregon has denied a kidney transplant to a death row inmate in the hopes of ending a statewide debate about how best to keep him alive until he is executed, state officials said Monday.

Horacio Reyes-Camarena, a convicted killer, set off a furious debate last month by telling reporters he qualified for the transplant.

Citizens around the state, angry about deep budget cuts that are making it difficult for Oregon to pay for education and health care, weighed in on whether a man sentenced to die should be allowed the $100,000 surgery or the chance to take a donated kidney to his execution.

Although state officials insisted Reyes-Camarena never requested a kidney transplant, Steven Shelton, medical director at Oregon Department of Corrections, said a panel of physicians was asked to consider the transplant to settle the question of whether he would be a candidate.

"We decided if he didn't need to know the answer, everyone else in the world needed to know the answer," Shelton said.

The state pays $120,000 a year to clean Reyes-Camarena's blood with a dialysis machine at Two Rivers Correctional Institution. That treatment could continue for a decade as he appeals his death sentence in the 1996 murder of an 18-year-old woman.

While a kidney transplant for Reyes-Camarena could prove cheaper for taxpayers, the question of whether he should receive the much sought-after organ fueled an emotional debate.

Shelton said prisoners' rights is an ongoing debate, but hoped resolution in this case would turn people to talking about the underlying issues in the Reyes-Camarena debate, namely, the scarcity of organs in the United States and the rising costs of health care.

Shelton and health officials said that they denied the inmate the kidney because he did not meet all the criteria established by the state, which could range from mental health to drug use to prison behavior. The specific reasons why Reyes-Camarena was denied were not disclosed.

"As it stands now, people tend to focus on 'hey, how come those inmates are getting so much?' When the real question is, 'how come I'm getting so little'? Because inmates are not getting that much," Shelton said.

Fuck him.

Denied.

Deny his ass dialysis too.

Better yet, just kill him now.

there are are nicer people out there that need that kidney

it's to bad we can't kill him in such a way we can use his other organs.  let him pay his dept to society.

> there are are nicer people out there that
> need that kidney

Indeed, but 120K$ to keep him alive on dialysis each year! If he's in that cell for a while, its a lot cheaper to give him the kidney.

How long is he on death row befopre sentence is carried out? 7 years already seems like a damn long time...


Tricky

/Phil

Pretty much what I was thinking...

make everyone happy ...

agree to give the bastard the kidney .. then let him die on the operating table from "complecations"

the "complecations" arouse from forgeting to bring that extra kidney with yoy...  [:)]

fuck him.

Its a sad state of affairs in this country that this was even considered.

How is it that convicted killers have government provided health care?

BS...  let him die of 'natural causes' if he can't live long enough to kill him.

Ditto.

[b][size=3]He has a right to appeal, up until his execution.
What *IF* he is not guilty?
There have been many over-turned convictions already...[/size=3][/b]

I can't believe anyone would waste a squirt of piss to keep a DEATH ROW INMATE alive so he can make it to his execution.

CJ

But guys, if he doesn't get a new kidney he might [i]die[/i]!  And then they wouldn't get to kill him!

This has been kicked around a lot on local radio talk shows.  The best I've heard is to take him to the crossing and put him back in Mexico.  He'd only last 2 or 3 days max.  What a waste of MY money to keep this person alive and well.  It's sorry that we take better care of illegals that murder us than we do Americans!

And, he will only be denied until we are all looking the other way and they will sneek him the transplant.

You know, this might sound harsh, but I think death row needs to be set-up on some sort of fast track program. That would save a TON of taxpayers money. Let's see, if I needed dialysis my family or insurance would have to pay. Is his family paying? He needs to pay for the murder he committed. Think FAST TRACK!


ByteTheBullet  (-:

I've said this for a long time.  You have a hearing, after sentencing, at which the judge, or, even better, a panel of three judges not involved with the original trial reviews the evidence and the trial transcript.  The panel could then make a finding that the evidence against the defendant is overwhelming, and that a curtailed appeals process is appropriate.  Defendant gets one appeal to the state supreme court, and that's it.  Buh-bye.

Ditto,

Ditto,

Ditto,

and Ditto.

Ditto.
----------------------------------------------
Which will it be, Webster's or Oxford?

You're right! In fact, how do we even justify keeping him behind bars if we are not 100% sure he did it. It's not like he killed the girl in front of the judge.

--------------------------------


LeonardC - I like your idea. Lets just let the guy go free, into Mexico. Let the SOB die there for cheap.

But....I think he should not benefit from the US healthcare system as an ILLEGAL ALIEN.  If, on the other hand, he *had* insurance, or is a US citizen who can make payment arrangements, he should have the same opportunity to save his life as he would have if he were free.....EVEN IF HE EVENTUALLY IS EXECUTED!