
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 14, 1995                   TAG: 9506150010
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.H. NOTE: BELOW                                 LENGTH: Medium

TOO SMART TO GET A HEART - HE HAS AN IQ OF 73

THE STATE SAYS he's not retarded. A lawyer says the state is callous. Thomas Talbot may die while they argue the point in court.

Thomas Talbot's brain may prevent him from getting a heart.

Though his IQ of 73 indicates borderline mental retardation, the state says Talbot, 22, is too smart to qualify for aftercare. His lawyers say that without that care, Children's Hospital in Boston will not go ahead with a needed heart transplant.

``I've never seen a case where the stakes were so high. The heart transplant hinges on this,'' attorney Joanne Petito said Tuesday before an emergency hearing on Talbot's latest appeal.

Petito wants the state to help Talbot with day-to-day tasks after his surgery - making and keeping doctor's appointments, taking his medicine, things like that. Earlier this year, Talbot became short of breath but did not seek help even though he has a congenital heart condition, Petito said.

Talbot, of Tilton, suffered heart failure two weeks ago and is being evaluated at Children's Hospital for the transplant, which would be covered by Medicaid.

Neither his family nor the agency that helps him live by himself in low-cost housing are equipped to see him through recovery from such a major operation, say his lawyers at the nonprofit Disabilities Rights Center.

A Children's Hospital spokeswoman would not say Tuesday what the hospital might do if Talbot doesn't win his appeal in New Hampshire. A decision from a state hearing officer is expected by Friday.

A key issue is whether Talbot is retarded. The state maintains he is not.

"For a year now, we've been talking to him, and try as we might, we have not been able to find him eligible,'' said Robin Kenney of Region IV Developmental Services, a nonprofit agency handling the case for the state under a contract.

Petito said Talbot has been rejected because the state arbitrarily rules that anyone with an IQ above 70 is not retarded.

``I think in light of this dire need, `callous' is the only word that comes to mind,'' said Ronald Lospennato, one of Talbot's lawyers.

by CNB