Elaine Surma For Congress

Question by lulabessie: Who is the current candidate for office who had an organ transplant (liver or kidney) and?
came from the hospital (on a stretcher if I recall) to cast a vote in his state legislature? This happened fairly recently. The guy may be a candidate for Congress. I read about him and have forgotten the details.

Best answer:

Answer by Bob P
The first politician to receive a transplant (that I know of) was Kansas City Mayor John Reardon, who received a heart transplant in February 1987. The next prominent example was Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey, who received a heart-liver transplant for amyloidosis in June 1993. More recently, Texas state Senator Mario Gallegos (D, Houston) received a liver transplant last month for alcoholic cirrhosis. Questions of preferential treatment were raised when both of these politicians received their transplants surprisingly soon after being listed, but no evidence of favoritism was found, though Governor Casey’s case led to changes in the allocation rules for those waiting for multiple lifesaving organs. Representative Charles Norwood (R, GA) unfortunately died of cancer this past week, having received a single lung transplant for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in October 2004.

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