The family of an 11-year-old boy awaiting a new lung has won a federal judge’s support, and now his name could be permanently added to an adult transplant list.
Family members of Javier Acosta, 11, say that Judge Michael Baylson has granted their request for a temporary injunction and ordered that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius open the door for the boy to be listed on adult organ transplant lists — a waiving of federal law that limits the list to those ages 12 or older, CNN reported.
“Javier needs a lung transplant to survive,” said attorney Stephen Harvey, for the family, in CNN. “Without one, he will most likely die before his 12th birthday in August. He could die sooner, much sooner, if his conditions were to suddenly deteriorate.”
This is the second federal court intervention in child transplant cases in a week. And it’s what critics of a court’s previous ruling in favor of 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan feared — that the court intervention and order to Ms. Sebelius to disregard law could crumble the policies in effect for transplant patients.
The same judge ruled in both cases. Both children have cystic fibrosis, Fox News reported.
An emergency hearing is scheduled for the Acosta family matter on June 14, CNN reported.
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• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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