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Teenager Receives Second Multi-Organ Transplant
Aired February 20, 2003 - 14:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So far, so good says a family spokesperson hours after a teenager received a second multi-organ transplant in North Carolina.
An error during the first operation left that young girl near death.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen live from Duke Hospital in Durham now with an update -- Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the doctors here at Duke just held a press conference. They said that surgery went well. Her new heart and her lungs are working. She was taken off of life support without any problems. She is still in critical condition and in the pediatric intensive care unit.
This is, of course, not to say, of course, that she is out of the woods yet. There is no time at which anyone can say she'll be OK now, and the Duke doctors reiterated that over and over again.
One year after having this kind of surgery, getting a heart and lungs, when you look at national data, only about half of the people her age who get that operation are still alive one year later, so still a lot of work ahead for this little girl who has been fighting for her life -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, who is paying for these surgeries?
COHEN: Well, we asked the people at Duke that. I must say, I sort of expected them to say of course we're going to pay for the second one since we basically goofed on the first one, but they didn't say that. They said it hadn't crossed their mind yesterday. I asked Mack Mahoney, who is a spokesman for the family, and he said, well, we don't know who is going to pay for the second one, they better pay for it. He said, as for the first one, insurance a paid for 80 percent of it, but he said Duke had better not file against that insurance, he said, or I'm going to be very upset about that. He also thinks that Duke should pay the $3,000 a month that this family will have to pay for the immunosuppression and other drugs she'll have to take.
As we heard earlier in the news conference, this family spokesperson is unhappy with Duke. He said they're a bunch ever piranhas. That was the word he used. I asked a Duke spokesman to comment, and he said that he had no comment -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, live from Duke Hospital in Durham, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 20, 2003 - 14:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: So far, so good says a family spokesperson hours after a teenager received a second multi-organ transplant in North Carolina.
An error during the first operation left that young girl near death.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen live from Duke Hospital in Durham now with an update -- Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the doctors here at Duke just held a press conference. They said that surgery went well. Her new heart and her lungs are working. She was taken off of life support without any problems. She is still in critical condition and in the pediatric intensive care unit.
This is, of course, not to say, of course, that she is out of the woods yet. There is no time at which anyone can say she'll be OK now, and the Duke doctors reiterated that over and over again.
One year after having this kind of surgery, getting a heart and lungs, when you look at national data, only about half of the people her age who get that operation are still alive one year later, so still a lot of work ahead for this little girl who has been fighting for her life -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, who is paying for these surgeries?
COHEN: Well, we asked the people at Duke that. I must say, I sort of expected them to say of course we're going to pay for the second one since we basically goofed on the first one, but they didn't say that. They said it hadn't crossed their mind yesterday. I asked Mack Mahoney, who is a spokesman for the family, and he said, well, we don't know who is going to pay for the second one, they better pay for it. He said, as for the first one, insurance a paid for 80 percent of it, but he said Duke had better not file against that insurance, he said, or I'm going to be very upset about that. He also thinks that Duke should pay the $3,000 a month that this family will have to pay for the immunosuppression and other drugs she'll have to take.
As we heard earlier in the news conference, this family spokesperson is unhappy with Duke. He said they're a bunch ever piranhas. That was the word he used. I asked a Duke spokesman to comment, and he said that he had no comment -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, live from Duke Hospital in Durham, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
