A prisoner with chronic myeloid leukemia

The health care received by prisoners in the area of tissue and organ trans plantation is not well discussed or documented. We encountered a prisoner w ith newly diagnosed chronic myelogenous leukemia who was a candidate for al logeneic bone marrow transplantation and had two HLA-identical siblings who were willing to donate bone marrow. Based on humanitarian, constitutional, and ethical considerations, we suggest that the prisoner (patient) should receive the same health care as individuals who are not incarcerated and th at the costs of care should play no greater role for prisoners than for oth er members of society.