A federal judge told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to reverse course — a 10-year-old girl dying from cystic fibrosis should be added to the adult lung transplant list.
The ruling came via a last-minute emergency hearing sought by family members of Sarah Murnaghan, Politico reported.
It came on the heels of a decision from Ms. Sebelius — who was labeled by some on social media as a one-woman “death panel” — to not make an exception for the girl and add her to adult transplant lists, Politico reported.
Current law only allows for those ages 12 or older to be placed on adult transplant lists.
The girl is still far from being saved. Fox News said her name will be added to a list that already contains 1,700. Her condition is rare, and doctors say she’s not doing well, Politico reported.
Some are concerned about the long-term legal impacts from the judge’s order. The judge said keeping the girl off the list was discriminatory and that by failing to make an exception in this case, Ms. Sebelius was failing “to protect the very few children nationally who are subject to” the law, Politico reported.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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