The proposition model is arbitrary and dangerous

In the beginning we would like to mention that according to your lovely counter-plan (the procedure used in the state of California), Hepatitis B could be the reason to deny a liver transplant. [[http://www.cpmc.org/advanced/liver/patients/topics/transplant.html]] We believe that giving a person a second chance to live is great, but giving him the first is even better. We would like to give priority to those that never had a chance to live fully with a healthy liver, rather than to those that had it initially, but wasted their organ behaving irresponsibly. If we had enough transplants for all patients, we would be happy to give them to everybody in need. Unfortunately, transplants are a very scarce resource. We could give first a transplant to a person who is more in need, but there is a substantial risk that the next person will die before he gets his transplant. Returning to the case of an old man and a young sportiest. Imagine that an old alcoholic needs a transplant more urgently. According to the opposition he should be given a transplant, but there is a high risk that the operation will fail because he has other diseases, malnutrition, advanced age, which are all criteria used already by the commission to decide whether to put a patient on the waiting list. Moreover, there is quite a high risk of relapse. According to the statistics we have given before there were cases of alcoholic relapse in the first three months. Also 38% of drinking patients after an operation is a quiet high percentage we believe, since it shows only cases during the follow-up procedures. It should be not a surprise that constant control deters previous alcoholics after the operation. Unfortunately, no statistics could tell us what the rates after the follow-up period finishes are, but we could reasonably guess that they could be much higher. [[http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/1/55#SEC1]] So, we give a transplant to an old alcoholic, because we believe that a young guy could wait for the next liver. Unfortunately, rates of donations have decreased, and he dies before he gets a new organ or his disease progresses so much that a transplant cannot help him anymore. We have saved an old person who could live for 3-5 years more if he doesn’t relapse, but we have sacrificed a person who could have lived for a longer period following an operation or even the whole normal life. Moreover, we have saved a person who was guilty himself in his disease, but sacrificed the one who just had a bad luck. We believe that this is neither an efficient or fair outcome. Concerning the complexity of determining the cause for a liver failure, we challenge the opposition’s idea of correlation. When there is a strong correlation between A and B, that most likely means that A causes B. If the mechanism how A causes B is found out and proved then this is called not a correlation, but a causation. The mechanism how alcoholism causes a liver failure is definitely not new and could be called a causation rather than a correlation. [[http://www.liverfoundation.org/education/info/alcohol/]] Otherwise, there wouldn't even be a term "Alcoholic liver disease." Moreover, alcoholism is proved to be the most popular reason for a liver failure. [[http://www.britishlivertrust.org.uk/home/the-liver/liver-transplantation/a-history-of-liver-transplantation-and-current-statistics.aspx]] Such statistics shows us that there are techniques and criteria to establish the cases of alcoholism and that alcoholism is a reason number one for liver diseases. We haven’t heard about such strong correlation between overeating and a liver disease. We would be grateful if the opposition tells us something about it. Also even if we believe that in some cases alcoholism could be partially caused by irresponsible parents or genetic predisposition, we say that it was still the choice of an individual to start drinking. First in this case the term correlation is definitely a better one, because it has still not been proven that alcoholism could be caused by genetic predisposition. There is some empirical data, but additional research in this field should be made to reveal mechanisms and to call it being true. [[http://alcoholism.about.com/od/genetics/Genetics_of_Alcoholism.htm]] Even if this was true, if a person understands that he has a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism and catches himself on a though that he is becoming an alcoholic, he could sign to Anonymous Alcoholics and try to cure his predisposition. It was still his decision to start drinking and not to cure his addiction when it developed. That is why it is mostly him to blame for the disease. However, in the case of some other liver disease cases it was mostly bad luck, thus the person is less to blame. We have read an article at BBC News about a young guy that died because he was refused in liver transplant. We say that it is sad. But this precedent has sent a bold message that alcoholism is something unacceptable in our society and it is something that could undermine it. Even if a person doesn’t think in a manner “Ok, I will drink, but then receive a transplant”, it still sends a message that alcoholism is inherently bad. Also if we speak about the level of guilt in receiving Hepatitis because of drinking from the same bottle and alcoholism, we see that the level of guilt in a liver failure as a consequence of alcoholism is much higher. Although the decision to drink from the same bottle was also made by an individual, it was just a one decision. However, developing alcoholism is a set of many decisions made by an individual. A person can’t become an alcoholic because he tried a beer once. He has to drink constantly for a substantial period of time in order to cause a liver failure, thus it is a consequence of many decisions made by an individual. We believe that in the case of one decision made that led to the liver failure the level of guilt is lower than in the case of many decisions. Decisions to start drinking, many decisions to continue drinking from the bottles labeled “Alcohol is bad for your health!” and decisions not to treat the addiction are all parts of this huge set that represents the route chosen by the individual. Thus the degree of guilt in this case is very high. Overall, we believe that we should give a chance to live first to those that never had it. Secondly, we see evidence that alcoholism is a reason for a liver failure in most cases, and we have a set of criteria to determine it. Then even if person has a genetic predisposition towards alcohol, it was still his decision to start drinking. Lastly, the decision to drink from the same bottle that led to Hepatitis was a decision taken once, but the decision to become an alcoholic that led to a failed liver was a set of many decisions made by an individual. Thus the degree of guilt in the first case is lower than in the former.