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Scott.Noll@wreg.com
(Memphis 6/22/2009) News that Steve Jobs, the billionaire CEO of Apple Computers, may have come to Memphis for a liver transplant is raising questions.
The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes magazine reported last weekend, that Jobs, co-founder of the computer company, received a liver transplant in Tennessee two months ago.
The focus turned to Memphis, after bloggers tracked Jobs's plane to the Bluff City.
Now, come questions of preferential treatment.
Right now, more than 200 people in Tennessee are on the waiting list for liver transplants.
Experts say there's nothing illegal about signing-up for waitlists in several different states.
And tonight, the group that matches donors with organ recipients in Memphis, denies Jobs, jumped the line.
Forbes magazine puts his worth at nearly $6 billion.
But the million dollar question for many outside Methodist University Hospital Monday, did Steve Jobs's name, and deep pockets, buy the California native a spot at the top of the transplant center's waiting list?
"Hmm, that's a big if," Sharon Wade of West Memphis wondered about Jobs's influence in the process. "You know, that's a big if."
"They shouldn't have transported him no where," said Dennis Duckworth whose sister is a patient at the hospital. "They should have done it right there in his hometown,"
But the hospital's CEO insists proper procedures were followed.
It was the same story at the Mid-South Transplant Foundation, where organs and recipients are matched.
"It's truly blind," said Kim Van Frank, director of the foundation. "It does not factor in the title you have, if you own a company, if you have millions of dollars, that does not factor in at all."
Instead, experts say a person's position on the waiting list is determined by how sick they are, how long they've been waiting and compatibility between the donor and recipient.
- Co-founder of Apple Computer reportedly had liver transplant in Memphis
- Hospital says there's no record of Steve Jobs there, but spokeswoman admits that information can be left out off logs
- Jobs's motive behind possible move to Mid South questioned by some
Scott.Noll@wreg.com
(Memphis 6/22/2009) News that Steve Jobs, the billionaire CEO of Apple Computers, may have come to Memphis for a liver transplant is raising questions.
The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes magazine reported last weekend, that Jobs, co-founder of the computer company, received a liver transplant in Tennessee two months ago.
The focus turned to Memphis, after bloggers tracked Jobs's plane to the Bluff City.
Now, come questions of preferential treatment.
Right now, more than 200 people in Tennessee are on the waiting list for liver transplants.
Experts say there's nothing illegal about signing-up for waitlists in several different states.
And tonight, the group that matches donors with organ recipients in Memphis, denies Jobs, jumped the line.
Forbes magazine puts his worth at nearly $6 billion.
But the million dollar question for many outside Methodist University Hospital Monday, did Steve Jobs's name, and deep pockets, buy the California native a spot at the top of the transplant center's waiting list?
"Hmm, that's a big if," Sharon Wade of West Memphis wondered about Jobs's influence in the process. "You know, that's a big if."
"They shouldn't have transported him no where," said Dennis Duckworth whose sister is a patient at the hospital. "They should have done it right there in his hometown,"
But the hospital's CEO insists proper procedures were followed.
It was the same story at the Mid-South Transplant Foundation, where organs and recipients are matched.
"It's truly blind," said Kim Van Frank, director of the foundation. "It does not factor in the title you have, if you own a company, if you have millions of dollars, that does not factor in at all."
Instead, experts say a person's position on the waiting list is determined by how sick they are, how long they've been waiting and compatibility between the donor and recipient.
