Methodist University Hospital Confirms Steve Jobs Liver Transplant

[Willis]

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.

Wow... as much as I hate our National Health Service, I'm glad it's in place so that should anyone have to go through with treatment like this, they don't have to pay for it. (even though it is paid by us through NIC)

Back on Topic;
I'm glad Steve is back to good health, but I wish Apple wasn't Steve Jobs. I want Apple to be everyone who works there and what makes it tick. The last 6 months have been good to Apple, a record quarter and new products have been released.

Should Steve have to leave in the future, I don't see Apple failing as it has in the past

 

[Veri]

Doctor says to one of the most powerful billionaires on the planet.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jobs, we can't find you a liver".

Whatever. lol.

The alternative of "organ tourism" is quite horrible. The destitute may sell you one kidney or part of a liver, while for a whole liver you may find a doctor in a country with lax definitions of "brain death". Former USSR, I'm looking at you.

Our family wealth is certainly such that we could afford the above, but I would rather die than take an innocent man's life to save my own. For I would no longer be a man.

It is to his credit that he has publicly demonstrated what rich men can and should do. This is not fawning; this is toasting him for leading by example.

 

[bobbleheadbob]

I'm glad Steve is back to good health, but I wish Apple wasn't Steve Jobs. I want Apple to be everyone who works there and what makes it tick. The last 6 months have been good to Apple, a record quarter and new products have been released.

Should Steve have to leave in the future, I don't see Apple failing as it has in the past

I agree, but also believe that an Apple with Steve Jobs at the helm is much more interesting and exciting (to me at least) than Apple with Tim Cook. Like it or not, he is an iconic figure with a unique perspective on the industry. I wish him well and hope to see him back on stage presenting at an Apple event real soon.

 

[DELLsFan]

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.

Few insurance policies do. Heart, Liver, Lung, Kidney ... all these organ transplant procedures are unique and special procedures with substantive costs associated with them. You're either sponsored, rich, or lucky to become a recipient in the US. Outside the US, the challenge in getting this sort of treatment is far greater, it seems to me.

Actually, no. It's not lucky.

Paris Hilton being able to afford it ... she's lucky.

Starting out as an orphan with nothing but knowledge and an idea and then building a company that becomes a dominant player in consumer electronics ...

that's work.

Beautifully stated. Thank you!

... Without Jobs you would be using a beige box, carrying a CD player still and have a 0.5% market share.

Hey Hey HEY now ... if you've been told once, you've been told a thousand times, we don't care about Market Share here!

Without Jobs, my computer and gadget budget might have been easier on my wallet, to be sure ... however I'm quite thrilled with the Mac / Apple experience overall. Thank you, Mr. Jobs for a job well done! I wish for him a speedy recovery.

 

[Porco]

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

That is the important bit. Great news. I've found all the speculation quite gross, especially people getting uppity about how it affects stock prices etc...

 

[Full of Win]

I got two cavities and became near-diabetic from reading the preceding post.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

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.

A friends mom had a lung transplant - financial qualifications were part of being accepted into the program. Can you pay for the meds for the rest of your life......

 

[Duncan-UK]

It might be a nice idea for Apple to include in all of the boxes for their products an information sheet about becoming an organ donor, or host a web page giving this out.

 

[meinkuchen]

A friends mom had a lung transplant - financial qualifications were part of being accepted into the program. Can you pay for the meds for the rest of your life......

wow this is just horrible
i'm glad having a real insurance

@topic
good for sj and i guess good for the applestocks 2

 

[Veri]

Just thought I'd say that I'm a registered organ donor and, when I die, you guys and everyone else are welcome to take any of my organs in order of medical need.

That was an advert to join your country's organ donor scheme, btw. I carry at least US and UK (links to schemes) donor cards. Remember to tell your family of your wishes, and do observe that donor schemes allow you to be choosy if your culture/medical conditions require it.

You might instead want to donate your body to medical learning or research (UK). How cool would that be?

Steve Jobs only lived because someone else did this. You may be able to save another life!

It might be a nice idea for Apple to include in all of the boxes for their products an information sheet about becoming an organ donor, or host a web page giving this out.

What a great idea. Letters ahoy.

 

[archipellago]

Researching MELD it seems that he pretty much had only 3 months to live, without this transplant.

 

[MoreBS]

Only speculation here, but how did Jobs get a liver ? First he finds out he needs a liver, and tells his doctors full steam ahead, find one. Money is no object. They find out that Tennessee has the shortest waiting list. Bam! Buy a nice house in Tennessee, get on the waiting list. No fund raising required at the local 7-11 with a plastic jar.

Now I know that your insurance or my insurance would not pay for that. And not even universal health care would pay for that. Plus there are not enough livers available so opening the US Treasury wide open wouldn't even make this fair.

 

[ekwipt]

best of luck steve

 

[gnasher729]

I'm glad to hear he is okay, but I am disappointed with the way Jobs and Apple handled this situation. I would be willing to bet the SEC will be investigating Apple, because they have basically lied to investors about Jobs health. Normally a CEO's health is not the publics business (I don't care) but for Apple investors it is important, for some reason. Don't lie to your investors Apple.

Get Well Soon Steve!

It isn't important for investors. It was a tool for the kind of investor who gets some negative rumor circulated, hope that the share price drops, and profit from it (short sellers mostly); it doesn't have a long term effect anyway as proven by AAPL's gain while Steve Jobs was gone. And there will be a certain amount of people who think it is important to satisfy their curiosity, but face it, it isn't.

 

[gnasher729]

Seems funny to me that someone who has been a member of this forum for 6+ years wouldn't care about the health of the guy who has made this company, in more ways than one.

Who says he doesn't care for Steve Jobs' health? He just doesn't think that it is appropriate to make someone's health, anyone's health, the subject of idle and often nasty discussions in the Wall Street Journal, on MacRumors, or anywhere else.

Seems like damaged limitation after the information has already got out. Maybe Apple and Steve Jobs heard the rumblings of potential court run ins in regards to the "public being made aware of health of Senior officials".

See what I mean by "idle and often nasty discussions" ?

 

[designgeek]

It might be a nice idea for Apple to include in all of the boxes for their products an information sheet about becoming an organ donor, or host a web page giving this out.

+1 more, I think this is a good idea. I hope he gets better fast, I bet he'll be at the iPod even in Sep.

 

[Harun]

Type

"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?"

I believe it is a rare type called "Obscenely Super Rich".

 

[ibwb]

Few insurance policies do. Heart, Liver, Lung, Kidney ... all these organ transplant procedures are unique and special procedures with substantive costs associated with them. You're either sponsored, rich, or lucky to become a recipient in the US. Outside the US, the challenge in getting this sort of treatment is far greater, it seems to me.

That's overstating things a bit. I don't know the percentage, but it's not really uncommon for insurance policies to cover transplants -- though it's true that there is always a special negotiation involved between the hospital and the company. As for kidney transplants, a little-known fact is that all US citizens with end-stage renal disease are eligible for Medicare regardless of age, and Medicare will absolutely pay for kidney transplants (the most common kind of major organ transplant). My own kidney transplant was covered under private insurance, my brother's under Medicare, and nobody went bankrupt.

 

[studlybw]

Geez

I can't believe I have to post this in another thread. Everybody needs to stop discussing how Steve is rich and how he got his transplant and other "facts" that you know nothing about. It makes people more and more ignorant of the life-saving gift of organ and tissue donation.

I had a liver transplant 17 years ago, I'm not rich at all, and I only waited 8 days to receive a transplant. UNOS (United Network of Organ Sharing) had no idea how much money I had.

People die every day waiting for an organ to become available and the only thing that keeps those transplants from happening is lack of education in the process. Go to your local organ procurement agency and ask for the facts.

I'm alive today because a 10 year old boy from Baton Rouge, LA., and his family, decided to give the greatest gift anyone can give, the gift of life. Somebody else did that for Steve Jobs and, bottom line, he's alive because they were educated and selfless enough to make that decision.

Moderators, please close this thread because it's doing more harm than it is good for organ and tissue donation. It's not an argument about whether or not an ipod mock is fake or not, it's an argument that mocks people who die everyday waiting and mocks people who give the precious gift of organ and tissue donation.

 

[Evangelion]

I'm alive today because a 10 year old boy from Baton Rouge, LA., and his family, decided to give the greatest gift anyone can give, the gift of life. Somebody else did that for Steve Jobs and, bottom line, he's alive because they were educated and selfless enough to make that decision.

I hope that everyone here is an organ-donor. If you aren't, why not? I know that I always carry my organ-donor card in my wallet, just in case something happens to me.

There really is no excuse to NOT be an organ-donor.

 

[drewster]

Any word from the SEC on this???

 

[rhett7660]

So much for HIPAA!

Just incase you missed it...

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.

 

[zgh1999]

Oh great.

Mother Earth is dying a slow death -- being murdered by consumerism and greed and evil of mankind.

And billions of people are suffering war, disease, hunger and poverty.

But what we care about is the diseased liver of Mr. Jobs.

Leave the man alone, and move on.

 

[johnqh]

I have not been an organ donor in the past. After today I went down to the driver's license place and changed my organ donor status.

You never know one day, I could be saving Steve Jobs, or someone's mom or or little sister. I encourage you all to do the same.

Thumbs UP!

I will do that. I encourage everyone to do that!

 

[happydude]

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

yeah. glad he finally sought serious treatment. hope he recovers for his own sake and his family's sake. and of course, apple needs him around. though the company did well without him. hopefully it will quell fears for the day when he does step down.