Case 7
5 ½–month–old Kyle Horning was unresponsive when he was rushed to the emergency room of the local hospital. The death of their 5 ½ –month–old son, Kyle, was a profound loss to Keith and Jessica Horning of Vassar, Michigan. However, the Hornings were presented with an opportunity to give some meaning to their tragedy. Upon being approached by the Gift of Life Foundation of Michigan, the Hornings made the decision to donate Kyle's organs so that other lives might be saved. Indeed, after Kyle was declared brain dead, his organs saved the lives of three people. His kidneys went to a 42–year–old man whose kidneys were failing due to therapy he had following a heart and lung transplant. His liver went to a 5–month–old boy and his heart to 4–month old girl.
The window of time in which organs remain viable is often quite short, so every effort is made to procure the organs as soon as possible and to proceed quickly. This brief window of time, along with a genuine scarcity of organ donors, represents a serious problem for those waiting for organs. Indeed, most people on transplant waiting lists die waiting. At the time of Kyle Horning's death, in the state of Michigan, 2,808 people had been waiting for one kind of organ transplant or another. Of those 2,808, only 492 had received organ transplants, and 77 died waiting. It is for this reason, that Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm recently signed a new law that would require medical examiners to delay their autopsies until after organs have been procured for transplant. Hence, in those circumstance in which patients or their families consent to organ donation, Michigan medical examiners will now have to wait until organs have been removed for transplantation before they can begin their autopsies.
While many applaud the new law as a way to save lives that would be lost if the organs were not immediately taken after the death of the donor, medical examiners are concerned that the law will interfere with effective death investigations. In specific reference to the death of Kyle Horner, Saganaw County Medical Examiner, Kanu Virani, complained"This baby came in unresponsive for reasons that weren't clear. Only a complete autopsy on Kyle's body can determine the underlying reason for unconciousness. This could be a trend. Michigan could be an open sanctuary for committing murder and getting away with it."