Woman, 26, denied liver transplant

Abstinence policy in crosshairs

A young Inuk woman from Labrador has become the latest to battle Ontario’s organ donation agency over rejecting liver transplants for alcoholics who haven’t abstained for six months.

Friends of Delilah Saunders, a 26-year-old advocate for Indigenous rights, have launched a campaign for her inclusion on a transplant waiting list.

“Her liver is kaput and her chances of survival are pretty low without a new liver,” Rebecca Moore said Thursday after visiting her friend the night before at the Ottawa Hospital.

The Trillium Gift of Life Network, which allocates organs for transplants in Ontario, says its abstinence policy is used across Canada and the U.S. Dr. Atul Humar, director of transplantation at University Health Network in Toronto, said one of the reasons is that there is research suggesting some alcoholics who receive transplants will resume drinking, causing their new organ to fail.

“If someone continues to drink after their liver transplant, they risk damaging that organ as well. The rationale is that if people can abstain for some time prior to a transplant, they can abstain for some time afterward,” he said in an interview.

Moore said Saunders’ family is considering a court injunction.

She says her friend is anxious to take part in a pilot project, beginning in August, that will waive the abstinence policy for some alcoholics who agree to receive support dealing with their addiction.

Saunders remains hooked up to hospital machinery to keep her alive. She was admitted to hospital Saturday.

Saunders is the sister of Loretta Saunders, who was murdered three years ago by two people subletting her Halifax apartment.