Oregon: Death Row Inmate Will Not Get Kidney Transplant

A death row inmate in Oregon who was seeking a kidney transplant has been turned down by a medical review panel, according to a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections.

A panel of prison doctors applying criteria used by the transplant team at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland concluded that Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena, 47, was not eligible for the surgery.

The two criteria that Reyes-Camarena failed to meet were not disclosed because of medical confidentiality laws, according to spokesperson Perrin Damon.

The case attracted national attention after Reyes-Camarena, who was sentenced to death six years ago for stabbing an 18-year-old girl and dumping her body near the Oregon Coast, told the Salem Statesman Journal that he wanted the transplant.

With more than 50,000 Americans, including 203 Oregonians, on waiting lists for kidney transplants, the Reyes-Camarena case rekindled a long-standing public debate over whether prison inmates convicted of commiting heinous crimes should be eligible to receive a life-saving organ.

Other Sources: Salem Statesman Journal