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Search Death row inmate seeks organ transplant 4-28-03 Reyes-Cameron, Horatio Alberto, Prisoner Tx Candidate 4-28-03 TIM LABARGE / Statesman Journal - Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena, 47, a death-row inmate at Two Rivers Correctional Facility in Eastern Oregon, sits throug h four-hour dialysis treatments three times a week at the prison. Prison officials struggle with ethical issues, costs of caring for a kill er.
Alan Gustafson Statesman Journal Oregon taxpayers are shelling out more than $120,000 a year to provide li fe-saving dialysis for a condemned killer. Horacio Alberto Reyes-Camarena was sent to death row six years ago for st abbing to death an 18-year-old girl and dumping her body near the Oregon Coast. At the Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Eastern Oregon, Reyes-Camar ena, 47, gets hooked up to a dialysis machine for four hours three times a week to remove toxins from his blood. Without dialysis, he would die because his kidneys are failing. As the state keeps Reyes-Camarena alive, thousands of older, poor, sick a nd disabled Oregonians are trying to survive without medications and car e that vanished amid state budget cuts. Some Oregon hospitals are consid ering closing dialysis units because of Medicaid-related reductions. Reyes-Camarena said he wants to sever his ties to the dialysis machine. T he convicted killer wants to be the first Oregon inmate to receive a tax payer- financed organ transplant. Its much better for me, and them, to o, Reyes-Camarena said, referring to his desire for a kidney transplant , a procedure sought by nearly 57,000 Americans. The prisoner cited medi cal reports indicating that transplant costs prove to be cheaper than di alysis in the long run. Even so, transplant surgery is costly: $80,000 t o $120,000. It also requires $500 to $1,200 a month in lifelong drugs to keep the recipient from rejecting the new organ. Studies have found tha t the death rate for dialysis patients is about 23 percent a year. A suc cessful transplant reduces that risk to about 3 percent a year. But the number of transplants is severely limited by a national scarcity of available organs. As of this month, 56,895 Americans, including 192 O regonians, were waiting for kidney transplants, according to the Virgini a-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which maintains the nations w aiting list for organs. Because the waiting list is long and there aren t enough organs to go around, some people die before a transplant become s available. Overall, 86,157 Americans are waiting for organ transplants mostly kidn eys, livers, pancreases and lungs. Officials estimate that about 700 wil l die this year while waiting. Lifesaving care for Reyes-Camarena raises questions about the bounds of m edical treatment for prisoners. Is the society he violated legally oblig ated to prolong his life? Doing hard time - Deep within a 1,450-inmate lockup along the Columbia Ri ver, dialysis takes place in a small, nondescript room. Reyes-Camarena rolls from his cell to the dialysis room in a wheelchair. Besides Reyes-Camarena, seven other inmates are undergoing dialysis at T wo Rivers. Each prisoner rests in a comfortable blue chair while he is h ooked up to a machine for four hours, the blood pumped to remove waste a nd excess fluid. Its like when you change the oil in your car, Reyes- Camarena said. Prison officials would not discuss Reyes-Camarenas medical condition or care, citing confidentiality requirements. Although dialysis keeps him a live, Reyes- Camarena criticized his care. The room temperature soars wh en the machines are running, he said, and two large fans dont provide s ufficient air conditioning. Reyes-Camarena also objected to the lack of a television in t he dialysis unit. TV viewing would break up the monotony for patients te thered to the machines, he said. Its four hours to do nothing but look at the ceiling, he said. Contrast in care - Carol Hutson doesnt know anything about Reyes- Camare na. But she has one thing in common with the killer: Her kidneys are fai ling, too. When kidneys shut down, the fluid and waste normally flushed out by urination build inside the body. For Hutson, 58, of Salem, state budget cuts made her impending need for d ialysis a secondary concern. Weeks ago, the state notified Hutson that s he would lose her disability assistance as of April 1 That threatened h er with eviction from her room at a Salem assisted-living facility. She also was slated to lose aid that pays for her medications, including twi ce-daily shots of insulin, pills for a heart condition and anti-depressa nts. Divorced and without family able to give her shelter or financial support , Hutson felt abandoned. It informed Hutson that she would keep her benefits at least thro ugh June 30. But she remains nervous because the two-year budget that starts July 1 has not been settled. I dont know if theres going to be another huge cut, Hu tson said. A killers tale - Before death row, Reyes-Camarenas life was predicated on hard work. Born in Mexico on June 30, 1955, he entered the United Sta tes in 1969. The Mexican immigrant worked as a restaurant dis hwasher in San Antonio, Texas. He later toiled in farm fields in Califor nia and Oregon. Following a well-traveled path taken by migrant workers, Reyes-Camarena ventured into the Willamette Valley to pick fruit. Reyes-Camarena was 40 when he committed the brutal crimes that left one w oman dead and another forever scarred by violence. During summer 1995, h e was employed as a farm foreman in Woodburn. Thats where he met Angeli ca Zetina, 32, and her sister, Maria Zetina, 18. But after reaching the Oregon Coast, he drove south instead of nort h on Highway 101. Stopping the car near Sea Lion Caves outside Florence, Reyes-Camarena att acked Angelica Zetina. He stabbed her 17 times, then pushed her down an embankment. She survived, and a hunter later found her walking along the highway. In Octob er 1996, a Douglas County jury found Reyes-Camarena guilty of aggravated murder. A desperate escape - Two days after his murder conviction and before the punishment phase of his trial, Reyes-Camarena and a second inmate escape d from a holding cell at the Douglas County Jail in Roseburg. The pair e scaped at night by unbolting a metal screen and breaking an inch-thick p ane of glass in the cell. As they were climbing down a makeshift rope ma de of knotted blankets and clothing, Reyes-Camarena fell four stories an d landed on his buttocks. He couldnt walk, so his companion dragged and carried him to a nearby ch urch. They holed up in the church basement for nearly three weeks before they were recaptured. All the time before he was caught, the injured Re yes-Camarena lay in a closet, hidden behind Christmas decorations. After spinal surgery, Reyes-Camarena returned to finish his trial. Reyes-Camarena declined to talk about the jail break during a recent inte rview. Costly treatment - In early 1997, Reyes-Camarena became the 25th inmate o n death row at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Reyes-Camarena cl aimed that his kidneys shut down after he arrived at the maximum-securit y prison. He blamed his condition on a medication mistake by a prison do ctor. Corrections officials denied the allegation but refused to elabora te. Penitentiary employees said Reyes-Camarena initially received dialysis in the Intensive Management Unit. That is an ultra-secure wing where disru ptive inmates normally are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. H is treatment was handled by a nurse who ventured inside the unit. When t hat arrangement ended, Reyes-Camarena was transported to a Salem dialysi s center three times a week. Every time Reyes-Camarena left the penitent iary, he was shackled and escorted by three corrections officers, prison employees said. A year ago, Reyes-Camarena and several other inmates who had received dia lysis in Salem were moved to Two Rivers, a new, medium-security lockup n ear Umatilla. By centralizing di alysis care at Two Rivers, prison officials said they pruned hefty trans portation and security costs that arose from taking inmates to community dialysis centers. It now costs nearl...
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