## Accessibility links

- Skip to content
- Skip to local navigation
- Accessibility Help

## US & Canada

6 June 2013 Last updated at 14:56 GMT

### Share this page

- Delicious
- Digg
- Facebook
- reddit
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Email
- Print

# Judge moves Sarah Murnaghan onto adult lung list

Sarah, (left) next to her adopted sister Ella, has been ill with cystic fibrosis since she was 18 months old

A US federal judge has allowed a severely-ill 10-year-old girl a prime spot on the list to receive an adult lung transplant, despite her young age.

Sarah Murnaghan has been in hospital for three months with end-stage cystic fibrosis, but children under 12 are given last priority for adult lungs.

The Obama administration had declined to intervene. Analysts warn the judge's decision sets a dangerous precedent.

The judge's order does not guarantee a lung for Sarah.

"We are beyond thrilled,'' Janet Murnaghan, the girl's mother, told the Associated Press. "Obviously we still need a match.''

Some medical analysts say the judge's intervention creates a dangerous precedent for others on organ transplant lists.

'The very top'

"I'm not sure I want judges or congressmen or bureaucrats trying to decide what to do with organs at the bedside," said Dr Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University Langone Medical Center.

Dr Caplan said children fare worse than adults after lung transplants, one of the reasons for the existing policy.

On Wednesday, US District Judge Michael Baylson issued a temporary restraining order barring the US health and human services department from applying to Sarah the rule that keeps children under 12 "at the back of the line" for adult lungs.

Sarah Murnaghan was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was 18 months old. She had been in and out of hospital since then, but until 18 months ago she attended school and led a relatively normal life, her family has written in court documents.

At that point, her condition deteriorated considerably, diminishing her lung capacity to 30%, according to a court filing by the girl's aunt, Sharon Ruddock.

Continue reading the main story

## “Start Quote

> The worst of all worlds, in my mind, is to have some individual pick and choose who lives and who dies”

End Quote Kathleen Sebelius US Health and Human Services secretary

Two weeks ago, she was admitted to the intensive care unit in hospital.

Doctors have told the Murnaghans that if Sarah were an adult, she would likely be at "the very top" of the lung transplant list.

But the "under-12" rule only gives her priority for the far smaller pool of paediatric lung donations, in part because all lung donations must fit the recipient's body.

If Sarah were to receive a lung from a larger donor, doctors could "downsize the donor lungs" to fit, Ms Ruddock said. While such a move "may be a complicating factor", Sarah's condition was grave enough to consider it.

Joel Newman, spokesman for the United Network for Organ Sharing, which operates the nation's transplant network, said he was unaware of any previous court order that overruled a transplant policy.

'Agonising situation'

While some lungs donated from deceased adults have been offered for children's transplants over the past two years, Mr Newman said, all were turned down by the children's surgeons.

Meanwhile, the Murnaghans are hoping the 10-day temporary order would allow for a more lasting change.

A lawyer for the family said a committee of the organisation that sets transplant policy may meet next week and he hoped it would change the rule.

"I hope that they decide to discontinue it completely for children under 12," Steve Harvey said. "I won't be satisfied until Sarah Murnaghan receives a set of lungs."

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said last week that while Sarah's case was an "incredibly agonising situation" she would not intervene, saying it should be the decision of medical experts.

"I would suggest that the rules that are in place and are reviewed on a regular basis are there because the worst of all worlds, in my mind, is to have some individual pick and choose who lives and who dies," Ms Sebelius said.

## More on This Story

### From other news sites

- #### Miami Herald Judge backs dying Pa. girl who needs new lungs 7 hrs ago

- #### Huffington Post Canada Judge grants dying Pa. girl's bid to seek adult lungs; expert raises medical, ethical concerns 8 hrs ago

- #### Metronews Judge rules in favour of Pa. girl who needs lungs 10 hrs ago

- #### Individual.com Judge orders halt to lung-transplant rule after girl's family sues 13 hrs ago

- #### Denver Post Judge rules in favor of Pa. girl who needs lungs 14 hrs ago

- About these results

### Share this page

- Delicious
- Digg
- Facebook
- reddit
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Email
- Print

## More US & Canada stories

RSS

- ### US agency 'collecting phone records'

  The US collects telephone records of tens of millions of Americans on a daily basis, says an alleged court order published by the Guardian newspaper.

- ### Afghan fury over massacre 'leniency'

- ### Six dead as US building collapses

## Top Stories

- Syrian army 'retakes Golan crossing'
- Turkish PM stands firm over park
- US agency 'collecting phone records'
- Dresden braces for crest of flood
- FBI and Microsoft hit theft botnet

## Features & Analysis

- ### Whey-mania

  Do ordinary people really need protein shakes?

- ### Ancient puzzle

  Unsung heroine behind the decoding of a mystery language

- ### Shooting hoops

  What Obama and Xi will really talk about at California summit

- ### African magic

  How Angola used posters to capture a lion in Venice

## Most Popular

### Shared

1. 1: The rise of the protein drinks for ordinary people
2. 2: Why Finnish babies sleep in boxes
3. 3: Satirical novelist Tom Sharpe dies
4. 4: US agency 'collecting phone records'
5. 5: Pilot crash-lands plane in garden

### Read

1. 1: Former DJ held in sex offences probe
2. 2: Syrian rebels take Golan crossing
3. 3: Pilot crash-lands plane in garden
4. 4: Men jailed over Debenhams boy rape
5. 5: The rise of the protein drinks for ordinary people
6. 6: Turkey PM vows park redevelopment
7. 7: FBI and Microsoft hit theft botnet
8. 8: US agency 'collecting phone records'
9. 9: The unsung heroine who helped decode Crete's ancient script
10. 10: Google patents pull-a-face passwords

### Video/Audio

1. 1: Background to Turkey protests Watch
2. 2: A look inside the vertical ship Watch
3. 3: Syrian army 'retakes Golan crossing' Watch
4. 4: One-minute World News Watch
5. 5: Pilot crash-lands plane in garden Watch
6. 6: US woman wins record $390m lottery Watch
7. 7: Inside Qusair as Syrian army returns Watch
8. 8: Thought-powered helicopter takes off Watch
9. 9: Fossil could be 'ancestor of humanity' Watch
10. 10: Dozens arrested over protest tweets Watch

## Elsewhere on BBC News

- ### The best chocolate bar none?

  Does Ecuador produce the finest chocolate in the world?

## Programmes

- ### Fast Track Watch

  Rajan Datar visits the Chota Valley where many of Ecuador’s best footballers are born

## BBC links

- - Mobile site
  - Terms of Use
  - About the BBC
- - Advertise With Us
  - Privacy
  - BBC Help
- - Ad Choices
  - Cookies
  - Accessibility Help
- - Parental Guidance
  - Contact Us

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.