My mother died a few days ago due to
multiple organ failure, but the first organ
that failed and took down everything else
was the liver.  It was not detoxifying her
blood as it should have been.  A kidney
specialist informed me that kidney
dialysis would not remove the toxins
that her liver should have been removing,
that it would therefore not return her to
consciousness, in effect that it was
therefore not worth the trouble.  In fact
multiple doctors of various specialties all
described her prognosis as "poor", "dismal",
or "grim".  Her Living Will stated that if she
were determined to be terminal, with no
expectation of regaining meaningful
existence, she wanted artificial life support
discontinued.  So I had no choice but to
have the medical staff pull the plug,
and she died within half an hour.

But I would not have had to make this
decision if there had been a mechanical
means to do what the liver was not doing,
if an equivalent of kidney dialysis existed
for the liver.  Why has such a machine
not been invented long since?  And would
someone please be kind enough to devise
one so that other next-of-kin do not have
to go through this?

(Note:  If anyone responds, please do not
wax very technical.  I have no medical
training, but I would like to understand the
response; so please phrase it in lay terms
as much as possible.)

-- Jeffrey J. Sargent