Wyn Delano
WMAL.com
ANNAPOLIS — (WMAL) Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch is recovering from a liver transplant he received Thursday, according to the Baltimore Sun (http://bsun.md/2rh2G10).
Busch, a powerful Democrat who is the longest speaker in Maryland history had been diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a form of liver disease that Busch blamed on medication he had been taking for skin cancer.
His sister provided the replacement liver through the University Of Maryland Medical Center’s living donor program, in which a donor has a large portion of their liver removed. Under normal circumstances, the liver will regenerate in both the donor and recipient forming two separate organs.
Busch’s health had been a concern for other lawmakers in the chamber as the speaker had lost weight and taken several breaks from floor proceedings over the last few months. Some expressed concerns about the speaker’s ability to serve.
However, Busch has remained politically active through his health crises, even using the surgery itself as a platform to remind voters of the inequality in healthcare ahead of Republican efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act.
“Unlike many in our state and country, I am fortunate to have good health insurance…it does force you to reflect on those who may not have the same quality of care that many of us are blessed with,” he says.
The surgery leaves an uncertain political future for the House Speaker. Busch will be up for re-election in 2018 facing, as of now, two possible republican challengers: former congressional candidate Mark Plaster and political neophyte Chelsea Gill.
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