Steve Jobs had life-threatening condition

Forget previous reports about hormone imbalances. It turns out that Steve Jobs has had a liver transplant, thanks to complications brought on by his 2004 pancreatic cancer.



Citing the Mayo Clinic, ZDNet reports that 6,000 liver transplants take place each year, and Emedicine.com states that on average there are 17,000 on the wait list. So how did Jobs get ?cut-sies? in line? Well, after months of issuing updates indicating hormone or nutritional imbalances, Apple now admits that its top exec was critically ill and dying fast.

I?m speechless. This news is a shocker, so much so that Paul Argenti of Dartmouth's business school believes Apple's actions merit scrutiny by the SEC. (UPDATE: The SEC is indeed investigating the situation.) For many people, Steve Jobs IS Apple, and his demise ? had it actually materialized ? would've devastated the company.

On one hand, medical patients have a right to privacy, and medical records are sealed for good reason. On the other hand, when it comes to corporate America, a chief executive's condition can be vital company information. Had Apple not made any statements at all, it probably wouldn't have attracted this kind of scrutiny. Now the questions are: what did they know, when did they know it, were the statements adequate in light of that, or worse, was there any misdirection involved?

I hear the patient has recovered, and is expected to return to duty by the end of the month. [UPDATE: He is reportedly back at work now.] But, notes ZDNet, he will always be a very sick man. For the rest of his life, he?ll have to take medications to suppress his immune system (which is common, so that the body doesn't reject the new organ). Basically, Jobs needs every ounce of goodwill he can get.

[via ZDNet]



[Edited by the author to remove totally inappropriate joke. Also removed any references that stated or implied that Jobs or Apple were guilty of deliberate dishonesty in their actions or motives. As of this writing, there is no confirmation that falsehoods were intentionally publicized.]