Alcoholic-liver patient transplant on hold

An alcoholic Ontario man’s unique attempt to have the courts make him eligible for a liver transplant has been put on hold for a surprising reason: Cary Gallant’s improving health means he may not need a new organ after all.

Gallant, a Sault Ste. Marie resident, was scheduled to ask a judge Friday for an injunction forcing authorities to put him on the province’s liver-transplant list, seemingly the first time the courts have been used for such a purpose.

The hearing was part of a constitutional challenge against the widely followed rule that requires patients with alcoholic-liver disease to stay sober for six months before being considered for a new liver.

Doctors had said Gallant — dry since July 8 — had only a 25-per-cent chance of surviving the next four months without the transplant.

But tests recently showed unexpected healing in his liver, so the injunction request has been shelved for now, Gallant’s lawyer, Michael Fenrick, said Thursday.

“The treatment that he has been receiving has been more effective than anticipated, which is very good news for him,” said the lawyer. “Since his health is improving, it’s more important to focus on that right now.”

But if Gallant’s condition slips again, the injunction application will be brought back on the front burner, Fenrick said. He denied the development adds credence to one of the justifications for the six-month rule — that sobriety could actually eliminate the need for a transplant.

For every patient like Gallant, there are many others who don’t make it to six months, said Fenrick. Statistics indicate that 1,600 alcoholic-liver patients die every year.

Suffering from jaundice and other symptoms, Gallant was admitted to hospital in July and diagnosed with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, alcoholic hepatitis and related conditions. Physicians suggested his only hope was a transplant, but he could not make it on the list until he had quit drinking for half a year. The rule is based on a belief that an alcoholic is likely to start drinking heavily again after the transplant, endangering a resource in short supply.

Transplant officials also worry that abolishing the sixmonth wait could deter some people from agreeing to donate their organs.

But research in recent years has suggested that alcoholics do well after transplants, with few returning to drinking heavily.

The Trillium Gift of Life Network — which oversees Ontario’s transplant system — has actually decided to lift the rule during a three-year pilot study starting next year, projecting that about 100 alcoholic-liver patients will get organs.

But Trillium has not agreed yet to permanently do away with the six-month delay, and Gallant’s constitutional challenge of the policy will go ahead, said Fenrick.