Gary Reinbach died last week. The 22-year-old British man had been denied a liver transplant because he was too sick to prove he could stay sober. Reinbach had the worst case of cirrhosis that doctors had ever seen in a man of his age but they refused to give permission for a transplant.
Guidelines in England say that to qualify for a donor organ, a potential recipient must prove he can stop drinking and remain abstinent for six months. This is to make sure there are no more cases like that of George Best, the soccer legend who continued to drink after receiving a liver transplant. Best died not long after that liver transplant.