Outraged over reports about a renowned hospital in Philadelphia declined to perform a kidney transplant on a Camden County child because she is intellectually disabled, Senate President Steve Sweeney said today he planned to introduce a bill making it illegal for a New Jersey hospital from denying life-saving health care to disabled people here.
The parents of 3-year-old Amelia Rivera of Stratford said a physician from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia told them last week the child would not be eligible for a kidney transplant because she is "mentally retarded."
"There is no doubt that this story has highlighted a seriously overlooked issue in the country: Hospital policy regarding organ transplants for people with developmental disabilities," said Sweeney, whose daughter has Down syndrome.
"People with developmental disabilities should not be treated as second-class citizens,'' he said."Their disabilities do not make them any less human or worthy of respect and common decency. I will immediately be putting forward legislation that would prevent this kind of treatment from ever happening to someone who seeks care at a hospital in New Jersey."
Read more of Susan K. Livio's NJ.com article HERE.