Dying man's family pushing for liver transplant says Quebec's rules are unfair

Daljinder Nahar is turning 44 this month, and he may not live much beyond that.

The patient at Lakeshore General Hospital in Montreal's West Island is running out of time as his family desperately scrambles to get him a liver transplant after several requests have already been denied. The refusals are in large part due to his years-long struggle with alcohol addiction.

The damage to his liver has reached cirrhosis, which means it is irreversible. There's about a 70 per cent chance that Nahar will die by mid-October, according to medical documents obtained by Radio-Canada. 

His loved ones are not only dealing with the prospect of losing him, they're also frustrated by the criteria for a potentially lifesaving transplant, which they say give Nahar the slimmest of chances of survival.

A July medical document, drafted by the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), says the 43-year-old can be referred for an orthotopic transplant — the most common type of liver transplant which involves a deceased donor — if he can be sober out of hospital for more than six months and go through a detox program.

The MUHC and the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) are the only two hospital centres in the province that perform — if possible — liver transplants for adults. Both of them have refused to consider him for the procedure.

Nahar has been in hospital since May. That's when doctors informed him that his health had deteriorated to the point where only a transplant could cure him.

"For someone who is gravely ill and basically cannot survive outside of a hospital, for them to keep telling us that he has to go home and be sober at home for six months, it doesn't make a lot of sense to us," said Amid Tak, Nahar's brother-in-law.

Tak and other family members are willing to see if they are a match and donate part of their liver in hopes of saving Nahar's life, but even those requests have been denied, they say.

"We're conscious of the fact that it may not even work. Other problems may come up. We don't know. But the thing that is difficult is that no one is giving us the chance to be considered," Tak said. 

Since 2017, Nahar has suffered from an alcohol addiction and has had several stints in rehab. His condition, according to medical documents, was largely caused by his alcohol consumption.

His brother-in-law says a bout with depression is what led to Nahar's alcohol abuse.

"He would drink at night in order to fall asleep. That's the only time he drinks," said Tak, who also pointed out that his brother-in-law was a successful chef in Montreal's West Island. 

"During the day, no one would be able to tell he's an alcoholic."