Douglas Graudons

Case Study Module 14

The Brandy Stroeder Case

Description of the Case: Brandy Stroeder, a teenager diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, was in need of a lung-liver-heart transplant to live. Brandy was covered by the Oregon Health Plan, a state funded insurance plan for low income residents. She needed the $250,000 operation to live, but it was not covered by Oregon Health Plan because it was deemed experimental. Her family sued the state to win coverage for the surgery, but they lost. Finally a millionaire hotel chain owner said he would pay for the operation. In the summer of 2001 organs became available and the family headed for Stanford University for Brandy to receive the transplant. But when the organs arrived, the lungs were damaged and unacceptable for transplantation. Brandy continued to wait for a transplantation until she died on April 8, 2002.

URL's that describe the case:

1) www.insure.com/health/transplants.html

This site describes the case and other insurance options.

2) www.koin.com/health/20020409_brandystroeder.shtml

This site describes what happened when Brandy went to Stanford for the transplant.

3) www.legacy.com/LegacySubPage1.asp?Page=APStory&ld=3033

An article describing the case and Brandy's death.

4) www.esiason.org/?page=oregon_teen_gets_send_off.html

An article describing the scene when Brandy left for her transplant at Stanford Univ.

URL's with Ethical Commentary:

1) www.salon.com/health/feature/2002/07/07/brandy/

This site talks about the ethics of Oregon's state funded insurance.

2) www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/omh/tf2000/f-paper.pdf

This site talks about ethics and the Oregon Health Plan.

3) http://bmj.com/cgi/context/full/316/7149/1965

This site talks about the ethics involved when making the Oregon Health Plan.

4) www.cpn.org/cpn/sections/topics/health/stories-studies/ohd_history.html

This site talks about the ethics behind Oregon's Health Plan.