Fla. Teen With Liver Transplant Dies Peacefully

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - A teenage liver-transplant patient who had gone to court so he would not have to take anti-rejection drugs died yesterday at home.

Fifteen-year-old Benito "Benny" Agrela won the right to stop taking his medication in June, after the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services forcibly removed him from his home.

He was hospitalized after the state's social-service agency learned he had failed to take his prescribed medicine.

Agrela, who had undergone two liver transplants, said he couldn't stand the medicine's side effects and wanted to die in peace.

A judge agreed he could stop taking the medicine and return to his Coral Springs home to live out his life with his family.

"He went in a very good way. We're very happy," Agrelo's sister, Ava Senra Dressner, told the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale. "He didn't complain of any pain."

Shortly before 5 a.m. yesterday, Agrelo opened his eyes and called out to his mother, who had kept a bedside vigil.

The two embraced. Agrelo smiled and took his last breath.

Broward Circuit Judge Arthur Birken drew national attention when he ruled that the boy could not be forced to take the anti-rejection medications, which can cause painful side effects in some transplant patients.

His ruling came after a long visit with Agrelo that included four hours of testimony from doctors who had treated the teenager.