Denied a transplant, another Arizonan dies

Another Arizonan has died after being refused a medical transplant amid state budget cuts.

Little information was released about the patient, who needed a new liver. But a spokeswoman for the University of Arizona Department of Surgery told the Arizona Daily Star that the death was "most likely" due to the state's defunding of certain pancreas, liver, heart, lung and bone-marrow transplants.

This is at least the second example of a patient dying while awaiting a transplant for which the state had cut funding.

GOP Gov. Jan Brewer, pictured, has come under fire for the cuts, which were made in order to help close a huge budget gap. A doctors' group has said the information used to make the decision was flawed. Democratic lawmakers are pushing legislation that would restore the transplant coverage.

(Photo of Brewer: AP/Ross D. Franklin)