Given his symptoms, in the absence of further information, the most likely reason is recurrence or complications of his cancer. If that’s the case, then Jobs, having gamed the system to obtain a liver that could have saved somebody else, might soon take that liver to his grave. And he’s had it less than two years. Is this what’s now unfolding? We don’t know, because Jobs won’t tell us anything. “My family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy,” he pleads. I hear you, Steve. We’re all pulling for you. It’s your life and your family. But that liver wasn’t yours. Somebody died to make it available. And other people who aren’t billionaires may have died on waiting lists so you could have it. What was your cancer situation when you got the transplant? Has the cancer returned? You owe us some answers.
more from William Saletan at Slate here.