Inuk woman back in hospital after being discharged amid transplant controversy

The 25-year-old activist for Aboriginal women was released from a Toronto hospital last weekend after doctors told her she would not need a transplant in the immediate future.

Saunders, who was treated for acute liver failure, has said doctors initially led her to believe she was ineligible for a transplant because she had not abstained from alcohol for the prior six months.

Her case spurred a national discussion about an Ontario transplant program’s six-month abstinence policy, drawing support from Aboriginal groups and Amnesty International.

Transplant doctors have defended the Ontario rule, citing research suggesting some alcoholics return to drinking after the procedure and the transplant may not succeed as a result.

Saunders said she was not feeling up for an interview on Friday, but she has said previously she plans to keep advocating on behalf of other patients who are denied treatment because of the alcohol-use policy, which she characterized as too “restrictive.”

“I’ve gotten to know the inaccessibility (of the health-care system) first-hand in a much more intimate way than I would have preferred,” she said in an interview on Sunday.

“This gives me the extra drive to be able to create that change and to be able to make these life-saving medical procedures more accessible.”

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Inuk woman back in hospital after being discharged amid transplant controversy

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