The State of Pennsylvania is considering a proposal that removes disabilities as factors in decisions regarding organ transplant. Democratic state Sen. John Sabatina proposed the idea after hearing the story of a Schuylkill County man, Paul Corby, who was denied a spot on a transplant list partially due to his autism.

Corby suffered from left ventricular noncompaction. In this condition, the muscular wall of the left ventricle appears to be spongy with noncompacted trabeculations. Corby's father died of the same condition at the age of 27. Paul Corby was 23 years old when he needed a heart transplant.

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania denied Corby a spot on its transplant waiting list in 2011, citing "psychiatric issues, autism, and the unknown and unpredictable effect of steroids on behavior."

The bill, H.B. 585 — Prohibit Discrimination Against Disabled People In Need of Organ Transplants (aka Paul's Law) — would remove mental or physical disabilities as a disqualifying factor when healthcare institutions decide if a patient gets an organ transplant. Paul's Law would require hospitals to justify such decisions with medically significant reasons.

The Pennsylvania measure could change the lives of thousands of patients like Corby, as it allows healthcare providers to put patients with disabilities on organ transplantation waiting lists. The proposal prioritizes organ transplant disputes in the courts.

It also prevents hospitals from denying transplantations to disabled individuals if the people have a support system that helps them meet post-operative treatment requirements. California and New Jersey approved similar legislation recently.

Many in the medical profession struggle with determining placement on the organ transplantation list. More than 123,000 people are on the waiting list for life-saving organ transplantation in the United States, according to the American Transplant Foundation, and another name is added to the list every 12 minutes.

Unfortunately, the number of people on the waiting list vastly outnumbers the number of organs available; 7 percent of people on the list die before receiving an organ. Adding more names to the list increases wait times for everyone, so healthcare providers must make difficult decisions about adding more names to the list.

The American Transplant Foundation lists severity of illness, time spent waiting, blood type and match potential as the factors that determines an individual's placement on the waiting list. Many in the medical community adhere to these guidelines, but some hospitals do disqualify candidates on the grounds of physical or mental disability.

In 1996, Stanford University Medical Center performed a heart and double-lung transplant on Sandra Jensen, making her the first person with Down syndrome to receive such a transplant. Several hospitals had denied her care, suggesting that the mental limitations of Down syndrome could affect her ability to complete the complicated and demanding post-operative regime where mistakes can result in death. The hospitals argued that since the organs were in short supply, they would be more beneficial if given to other patients.

As of today, Paul's Law is in a House committee. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has not commented on the specifics of Corby's case, and he is still waiting for a transplant.