Methodist University Hospital Confirms Steve Jobs Liver Transplant

[MacRumors]

Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare today issued a brief press release confirming that Steve Jobs did receive a liver transplant at the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute. The release was issued with Jobs' permission several days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs received the transplant in Tennessee two months ago.

Addressing speculation that Jobs' fame and wealth may have enabled him to gain access to a donor liver ahead of other patients on the waiting list, the release notes that Jobs had qualified on the basis of being the sickest patient of his blood type at the time the donor liver became available.

Mr. Jobs underwent a complete transplant evaluation and was listed for transplantation for an approved indication in accordance with the Transplant Institute policies and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) policies.

He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available. Mr. Jobs is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.

The release also points out that the institute is one of the ten largest liver transplant centers in the United States and has one of the highest patient survival rates in the country, factors which led to Jobs' decision to have the procedure performed there.

Several sources have reported that Jobs returned to work at Apple's Cupertino headquarters yesterday, although rumors suggest that he may limit himself to a part-time basis for the next month or two.

Article Link: Methodist University Hospital Confirms Steve Jobs Liver Transplant

 

[lozanoj83]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A341 Safari/528.16)

Well good on him, hopefully he makes a speedy and well
recovery.

 

[darijoe]

Sounds like he had excellent treatment! Hope Steve is feeling good. We love ya!! 😀

 

[VanMac]

Glad they fixed you up Steve!

Praying that you pull through and live a long and prosperous life.🙂

 

[cmfilms]

Jobs had qualified on the basis of being the sickest patient of his blood type at the time the donor liver became available.

Well that makes sense right there. Plus it certainly emphasizes how sick Steve was.🙁

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

...Addressing speculation that Jobs' fame and wealth may have enabled him to gain access to a donor liver ahead of other patients on the waiting list, the release notes that Jobs had qualified on the basis of being the sickest patient of his blood type at the time the donor liver became available...

I do not believe this statement at all. When ever someone famous goes to a hospital (or anywhere), they usually get treatment first. I don't like that at all, but that is what usually happens.

 

[redking31591]

I think that because after analysis he was the sickest person on the list show his dedication to his job. It is amazing that he worked everyday for as long as he did if he really was that sick. Liver problems don't appear overnight and he probably was in need of a transplant since last years WWDC. Hope he's doing well and can't wait to see what he shows us next!!!!

 

[Fluffy Bunny]

"he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type"

Mmm, that doesn't sound too good.

Of course the next question will be "what blood type is he?"

 

[patrickdunn]

So much for HIPAA!

 

[jaw04005]

The only advantage Jobs had with regards to his transplant was he didn't have to sell his home, car, etc to pay for his transplant. I have an aunt that's about to be placed on the liver transplant list, and her doctors have already warned her that the transplant itself will cost between $500,000-$1,000,000 and her post-transplant prescriptions will total $35,000 per year for the foreseeable future. 😱

To top it off, she has insurance yet it's practically worthless. Surprisingly, most "normal people" insurance doesn't cover transplants.

 

[atropos]

I only wondering for what reason to cause his liver failure🙁

 

[dagamer34]

I do not believe this statement at all. When ever someone famous goes to a hospital (or anywhere), they usually get treatment first. I don't like that at all, but that is what usually happens.

Hospitals don't decide on who gets an organ.

 

[Feng Shui]

The hell. Steve Jobs is an economy-driving machine. He'll save more lives by keeping people employed.

 

[inkswamp]

Am I the only one who doesn't give a @#$& about all this liver transplant news? Why does anyone care?

 

[daveschroeder]

So much for HIPAA!

...

"confirmed today, with the patient's permission, that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant"

 

[Dmac77]

OMG it really did happen. I hope your okay Steve!

Don

 

[applecultvictim]

Mr. Jobs is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.

Surely this has to be the most wonderful quote from a main page article, ever.
🙂

 

[stefman]

I'm glad the article mentioned his prognosis is good. Look forward to a healthy Steve running Apple

 

[benlee]

Am I the only one who doesn't give a @#$& about all this liver transplant news? Why does anyone care?

You certainly care enough to say how much you don't care.

I think people care because this is a site about Apple News and Rumors and Steve Jobs is the CEO and Founder of Apple. Seems that a liver transplant would be newsworthy.

 

[queshy]

This is all the media's fault. This is a dumb article, and Steve's personal privacy has been completely invaded. There's no reason why a press release should be made when someone gets a liver transplant. Nobody will shut up until there are cameras following him around all day.

 

[rstone3]

You would care if you were there and someone famous was too. They get treatment first at hospitals and many times get let off the hook for crimes.

I agree with the latter point (about getting away with crimes) but disagree with the former. It is true that famous people get different care since they are often kept away from the public but I would assert the care they get is not as good in many ways. What you want when getting care is to get it in almost an assembly-line fashion for the best result. Anything that breaks the pattern has potential for decreasing success. It is also true that the transplant list is 'blind' to the name of the potential recipient.

He may not have been extremely ill to get a transplant - there is a 'point of no return' sort of a scenario built the selection process - you have to be the sickest to a point but not so sick as to likely not survive the surgery or recovery period.

And, to the poster that noted HIPAA was being violated - The Wall Street Journal did that, but not the hospital since the press release was done with Steve's permission.

I hope he continues to do well - back to work in fairly short order after such a procedure is a good sign. We wish you the best, Steve!

 

[Pugpuppydude]

Apple stock negatively correlates with Steve Jobs Health.
What other company is set up like this?

 

[acidblue]

I do not believe this statement at all. When ever someone famous goes to a hospital (or anywhere), they usually get treatment first. I don't like that at all, but that is what usually happens.

Do you have any valid data to back up such a statement? Or, are you honestly saying that the hospital has no credibility?

 

[jaw04005]

IAnd, to the poster that noted HIPAA was being violated - The Wall Street Journal did that, but not the hospital since the press release was done with Steve's permission.

Sounds like the WSJ article was done with Steve's permission also. In fact, I'm inclined to believe it was him or Apple's PR that leaked the story on a Friday night during a major product launch.

It was all too convenient.

 

[Virtuo]

Do you have any valid data to back up such a statement? Or, are you honestly saying that the hospital has no credibility?

I agree it's a plausible hypothesis, but without any evidence (studies, surveys, etc...) it's just a hypothesis. It just irks me when people make assertions as if they researched the matter. Sorry.