Transplant recipient stuck without drugs

[Judi Lynn]

July 28, 2005, 11:00PM

Transplant recipient stuck without drugs
Passport issue keeps Honduran from returning to Texas for medicine
Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO - Bureaucratic hurdles are threatening to keep a Honduran kidney-transplant recipient from returning to Texas to get the anti-rejection medication he needs to survive.

Now the San Antonio ophthalmologist who saved 24-year-old Isaias Arita-Bueso's life by donating one of his kidneys is fighting to get him back in the United States.

Arita-Bueso went to Honduras in June for a two-week visit with his family.

But when he tried to board a plane for Texas, U.S. immigration officials turned him away because his student visa was set to expire at the end of August. Arita-Bueso also was ordered to get a new passport because he looked different in the photo.

"If you went through what I did and gave someone an organ, to see them die over bureaucratic (hurdles) — I'm very, very upset," Dr. Peter Speicher said. "I'm sure my blood pressure is sky-high."
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3287295
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[Vinca]

1. Can't the drugs be sent to Honduras so he can have them while he

straightens things out with the INS?

[Judi Lynn]

3. They do have one option. Here's more from the article:

If Arita-Bueso isn't able to return to San Antonio soon, Speicher said he will fly to Honduras this weekend with more medicine. Speicher spent nearly $100 two weeks ago to ship extra medication, but it never arrived.

"Isaias is very nervous — he's counting all his pills," Speicher said.

The two met in 2000, when Arita-Bueso served as a Honduran tour guide to Speicher. They corresponded for two years, and Speicher invited him to the United States so he could get an education.

When Arita-Bueso's kidney failure was diagnosed in 2003, Speicher offered his.
(snip)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems so nasty to throw roadblocks in front of this suffering soul at a time like this. Sure hope the patient and his good friend can get help.

[Vinca]

4. That's good to know.

I agree that it's a sad state of affairs. Anyone who is not a citizen would be wise to keep their credentials up-to-date. It's not like the old days. When my husband and I came back into the U.S. from Canada in the late 1960's he - at age 23 - had a green card with a photo of a 10 year old boy on it. No problem . . . just a reminder to get photos taken. How times have changed.

[FlaGranny]

5. I wonder about

the credentials, though. It said they were due to expire at the END of August. That would be close to TWO MONTHS before the expiration date when they prevented him from returning.

Edit: Perhaps there is a new "no visits home" regulation when a young person is here on a student visa.

[unhappycamper]

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