Teen-Age Patient Gets OK to Stop Transplant Drug

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. â€”  <p>Over the state’s objections, a teen-age transplant patient won a judge’s permission Saturday to return home and stop taking the medicine that could prolong his life.

Benito Agrelo, 15, who has undergone two liver transplants, said the anti-rejection drugs gave him headaches and made him irritable.

His mother said he might live only a month more without the drugs. But she said it would be a more comfortable life.

“Benny was granted exactly what he deserves,� said his mother, Armanda Agrelo. “He will get to live his life the way he wants. There will be no forcing of drugs for him.�

The teen-ager said he had thought about the decision for three months.

“The judge made the right decision,� he told WTVJ-TV in Miami on Saturday. “I should have the right to make my own decision. I’m tired of living in pain. I’d rather stay at home and live as close as I can to a natural life.�

Broward County Circuit Judge Arthur Birken would not comment on the case, saying it was not over.

Jocelin McBryan, a county children’s advocate, confirmed the basics of the order. “The state won’t be telling him what to do,� she said.

Benito received his first new liver when he was 8-years-old and his second in December, 1992, but he decided last summer to cut back on anti-rejection medicine because it caused fierce headaches and irritability, common side effects. Last October, he quit taking the medicine all together.

“The more he cut back the better he felt,� his brother, Frank Agrelo, said after a court hearing Saturday.