find a match in time. but this only this exemption for kids only applies to her. so other kids who are in need of transplants, they re not able to get adult lungs. but potentially, when you listen to what her team is saying, what her family is saying, what her attorneys are saying, the implications here are very grand. because if a judge rules in this way, in this situation, it could quite possibly open the door for other children who are in a similar, desperate, critical situation, as well. you talked about the health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius. her parents had asked her to intervene yesterday. she essentially said her hands were tied in this case. now, any response from her? well, we tried reaching out to secretary sebelius several times throughout the day. yesterday was interesting. she attended a budget hearing in washington, d.c., and, of course, all the questions turned to poor sarah murnihan, her situation, what was being done. from the secretary s p
a lung transplant. but at least when it comes to this legal hurdle, at least for this next ten days, she has crossed that hurdle. now the problem is, trying to find a match in time. but this only this exemption for kids only applies to her. so other kids who are in need of transplants, they re not able to get adult lungs. but potentially, when you listen to what her team is saying, what her family is saying, what her attorneys are saying, the implications here are very grand. because if a good rules in this way, in this situation, it could quite possibly open the door for other children who are in a similar, desperate, critical situation, as well. you talked about the health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius. her parents had asked her to intervene yesterday. she essentially said her hands were tied in this case. now, any response from her? well, we tried reaching out to secretary sebelius several times throughout the day. yesterday was interesting. she attended a
course, all the questions turned to poor sarah murnihan, her situation, what was being done. from the secretary s point of view, she feels as though the guidelines are in some ways she feels her hands are tied, basically. she says, and i m going read you part of a quote of what she said yesterday. she said, i suggest that rules are there because the worst of all worlds is if some individual picks who lives and who dies. sebelius also pointed out she feels for the murnaghan family, but feels as though rather than doing something right away without proper checks and balances, that might hurt people who are also sick, and who are also on a list. so what she did was, she ordered a policy review, but murnaghan s family basically saying we don t have time for a policy review. something needed to be done now, and legally, at least for now, that s what they got. obviously this story has generated a lot of public support. a lot of people are rooting for sarah tonight. her father, fran, jo
there is an available set of lungs from an adult, they go through the entire adult list, no matter what severity the various adults are at, and once everyone in the adult list has passed them up, then they re offered to the children. her lungs have deteriorated significantly and we re saying a few weeks. so if we don t receive a pair of lungs, in the next few weeks, then she will die. the group that oversees lung transplants says it won t change the rules for sarah, explaining in a statement that it quote, let me read this for you, cannot create a policy exemption on behalf of an individual patient since giving an advantage to one patient may unduly disadvantage others. that s a quote from them. but now two senators and a congressman representing pennsylvania where sarah is from are stepping in to try to help. senators pat toomey and bob casey and congressman patrick meehan have all reached out to
exception. but i believe there is. because, frankly, you identified the fact that she s sicker than most on the list, and would qualify, but for her age. but there doesn t seem to me there is a reasonable basis for why that has stopped at 12. the other criteria is effectively likelihood of some success and the doctors think there is a licklihood of success. so, congressman, let me is it an exception that you and so many others including the parents here are asking for or is it a rule change? well, there is not going to be time for a rule change. certainly in congress, we ll be able to ask for an evaluation of the whole process. but with respect to sarah, there would have to be some kind of recognition. i wouldn t even call it an exception. i think it would be a recognition that the second criteria is, you know, effectively the viability. how likely is she to prosper with that new lung?