Hospital and insurance failures aside, there are two things that occurred directly leading to the death of Wyatt Leamon. The first was the lack of information and education available to Wyatt's parents regarding drug reactions. It is very important the parents understand the risks of the most common drugs they are giving their children every day and have knowledgeable discussions with their Pediatricians regarding the issue.

The second is the inability to quickly secure a deceased or "cadaveric" donor for Wyatt's liver transplant. It is a fact that if every available deceased donor in the hospital system had been registered to be a donor, there would not be a national waiting list today. So please sign-up to be an organ donor. Five minutes could save someone's life, including a young baby such as Wyatt...

National Waiting List*

99,293 (all organs, all ages)
16,179 (liver, all ages)
506 (all organs, under 5 years old)
223 (liver, under 5 years old)

Available (Deceased) Donors 2008*

3,379 (all organs, all ages)
2,866 (liver, all ages)
78 (all organs, under 5 years old)
63 (liver, under 5 years old)

Did You Know?

A new patient is added to the national waiting list every 12 minutes...
An average of 18 people die each day due to lack of available organs...
All major US religions support organ donation and see it as the final act of love and generosity...
Signing a donor card and a driver's license with an "organ donor" designation may not satisfy your state's requirements to be an organ donor. Additional verbal and written steps can be taken to ensure your family understands your desire to be an organ donor...
Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR's) account for approx. 150,000 deaths per year in the US alone...
ADR's are the fourth leading cause of death in the united states...
ADR's are caused by some of the most common drugs we give our kids today including Ibuprofin and antibiotics...
There is no test available to find out if your child is susceptible to an Adverse Drug Reaction...
There is no requirement from the FDA to report an adverse drug reaction...

* Statistics as of May 2008, compiled using UNOS data reports at www.unos.org. Additional data taken from sjsupport.org and donatelife.org

Chiropractic and Ear Infections

A news story revealing how Chiropractic can mitigate the danger and futility of prescribing antibiotics for ear infections. If only Wyatt's family had known beforehand that this option was available, the little Pie Man would still be with us today. In an interesting twist, Dr. Peter Martone, the Chiropractor featured in this video is just one of many Chiropractors who have pledged support for the Wyatt Leamon Foundation and will be doing his part to spread Wyatt's word.

How CIGNA Keeps us from Healthcare Reform

Pleasese support healthcare reform that emphasizes patient care and care for all Americans rather than profits. Here is a clip that illustrates how powerful the insurance lobby is and how much emphasis goes toward profit told from an industry insider with over 20 years experience in the health insurance industry. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of health care reform.

Give Thanks. Give Life.

A beautiful video highlighting the two sides of organ donation. Wyatt Leamon received two offers for liver donation while awaiting his transplant but could not use them due to size issues. In addition, another patient was given higher priority over Wyatt to receive a third liver the day before he passed away. Had every potential organ donor in the hospital system been registered or if there was a mandatory donor public policy in place with an opt-out option, there would not be a national donor waiting list and every patient awaiting a transplant, including Wyatt would receive their potentially life-saving transplant. Please support public policy change for mandatory organ donation with an opt-out option and in the meantime, please sign-up to be an organ donor, it literally takes less than 5 minutes!

Child Organ Donation

While no one wants to think about their child's early exit from this world, we hope that it would bring comfort to know that their organ donations could give other kids and young babies a chance at life. Infants in particular need smaller organs as Wyatt was in the unfortunate position of receiving two livers that might've saved his life had they not been too large in size. There is no sign-up form or registration, it is completely up to you as a parent to choose life for another sick baby who might need an organ from your child should the unimaginable happen. Please choose life for another child by allowing your child to be a donor should tragedy strike, it is the ultimate gift of love and kindness.

Please visit these websites to find more information regarding organ donation...

Bill Maher Talks Drugs and Health

While Maher does not speak specifically to drug reactions, he does take the pharmaceutical industry to task and encourages alternatives including eating healthy and exercise. But the overall message here is, we are too quick to take and give our kids drugs! Would it surprise you that the number four killer in the US is due to adverse reactions from drugs? Some of your most basic drugs are killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, many of them children. It is extremely important that every parent understands the risks and facts associated with the drugs they are giving their kids every day... many times, more due to their own fears and sleepless nights from an irritated baby than because of a real need for medication. Sometimes, it's best to let the immune system just run its course, but at the very least, please discuss these risks with your doctor before giving your children antibiotics and other medicines such as ibuprofin.