Official Ottawa Senators Thread
- Thread starter Madferret
- Start date
Kin
New member
Obviously this is sad news for Melnyk and his Family but I have to say I'm not entirely sure I'm alright with this:
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=767640
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=767640
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Nik the Trik said:
I've always said, if you're going to donate part of your liver to somebody, it might as well be to a really rich guy.
Kin
New member
Bender said:
I don't know if you're referring to Melnyk or McCown here but I think you'd have to admit that either putting a plea on the website of the hockey team you own or using your nationally syndicated talk radio show to put that plea out there isn't "the same way" as just about anyone else facing the same issue.
So it's bizarre on its face, even before you get to the ethical issues.
ZBBM
Active member
Nik the Trik said:
Which, in Canada, are what? Do average people in the national health system have to wait long times to get transplants (or never get them), while rich people can try to bypass the wait by paying for (or in this case, offering to pay, if that is what Melnyk's doing) a procedure? I'm just wondering what you see as the ethical issue(s) here.
Kin
New member
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Well it's tough to get into because I don't want to seem insensitive to Melnyk or his family but right off the bat sort of at issue is just whether or not he should be in the national health system to begin with. I know he's a permanent resident of Barbados and has been for decades and typically if you don't live in Ontario you lose your OHIP coverage after a while(I dealt with this when I lived in Australia, for instance). Even before you get into the idea of him maybe having moved for tax reasons and our healthcare system being entirely supported by our tax dollars it seems a bit craven maybe to come back to Canada and ask the Canadian public for this sort of thing when you choose not to live here. Typically, no, I think any sort of privately funded organ transplant thing is illegal here although I can't say for sure. Anybody can skip the line if they have a family member specifically looking to donate to them but this is asking the public, who Canada would love to donate organs to people who need them, to specifically donate an organ to someone they don't know.
So that's one issue and since my others maybe sort of would go into a more controversial area I can leave it there. In response to your other question the Toronto Star has an article up saying 16,000 people in Ontario are awaiting transplant although it's not 100% clear if that's for any organ or for a liver in particular. I know that during my time at the Ministry of Health Canada's organ donor/waiting lists didn't stack up terrifically to other G20 countries but that was a while ago.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Active member
I find it hard to begrudge a fellow using his social, political and financial resources to continue surviving. Godspeed Mr. Melnyk.
Heroic Shrimp
Active member
Guru Tugginmypuddah said:
Honestly, there's probably a good number of big Senators fans who would be thrilled to help him out if they're a match. He's likely vastly increased his pool of donor candidates, and I'm sure I'd do the same thing if I were in his position.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Active member
Nik the Trik said:
But they already have Chris Neil.
L K
Active member
There is absolutely nothing untoward about what Melnyk is doing. While he is certainly using the Senators name when posting stuff through the team, it is his business and he is allowed to do that. As long as there is no intention for compensation for anyone that steps forward it's all legal. (That compensation would include travel expenses, gifts etc. as that violates the organ donations laws for organ sale).