Friday, January 09, 2009

Art Caplan: And now for the dumbest divorce claim of 2009

Sounds like the start of a corny joke: your money or your wife? When I was a trial attorney (in a previous life), I had my fair share of rancorous divorce cases, but this one takes the cake:

According to a Newsday article,when Dr. Richard Batista's wife needed a kidney, he gave her one of his (how lucky they were a match!) -- and now that Mrs. Batista has filed for divorce, he says he it wants it back -- either that or $1.5 million -- the supposedly value of the kidney transplant.

Aside from the fact that you probably can get a kidney transplant for a lot less, thanks to medical tourism (not that I am advocating it) in China or India, medical ethicists, Art Caplan and Robert Veatch are saying it's just not argument that is going anywhere.

It is just such a shame that the show Boston Legal was canceled ~ they would have had so much fun with this case. (E.g. -- Episode 1 of Season 3 "Can't we all just get a lung?", starring Michael Fox)

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