If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may recall a piece last month questioning whether you, the taxpayer, should picked up the tab for a convicted rapist serving a lengthy prison sentence to receive a heart transplant. (If you missed the original blog, you will find it 2 Comments).

Kenneth Pike, who is serving 18-40 years for sexually abusing a relative, was flown to a Rochester Hospital to be evaluated for a potential heart transplant. Estimates pegged the cost at $800,000. The news story, took on a life of its own and went national as people debated two main issues:

• Should taxpayers be forced to foot the bill for a costly heart transplant for a convicted sex offender?

• Is the issue compounded by the fact that with thousands of candidates on the waiting list for a new heart, is it fair to "waste" one on a man with Pike's dubious past.

The debate raged on with humanitarian types defending the procedure as "the right thing to do," saying that despite his crime, in America, prisoners are entitled to full medical care and failing to offer the surgery, would be, in effect, upping Pike's sentence to death.

On the other side, people argued (loudly) that there was no way the people should pay for the transplant, and furthermore, even if Pike had the means (he doesn't) he should be put at the bottom of the list. Readers of the original blog chimed in via the comment section on the blog, on email, Facebook and even LinkedIn. Here is a brief sampling of what they had to say:

A high school classmate of mine, Steve, weighed in from North Carolina with this to say: "There needs to be some system created to handle health care in prison. Just because you are there should not mean you get free health care. I have to work for it out here, so they should have to work for it in there."

Steve wasn't alone in his opinion, though others took an even harsher approach. A comment left on the blog summed up a common opinion among readers: "NO way should he get that transplant. What about someone who has lived a good life, always done the right thing? WHY should we pay for this reject?"

Finally, my sister, always the compassionate one in our family, threw in her two cents and defended the decision to consider Pike for the procedure. "I think no matter how disgusting his crime he can not be denied a heart. It would be giving him a death sentence on top of what he already was handed. I do not approve of prisoners who think we should pay for their sex change operations or their liposuction (yes, this really happens), as those are not life threatening, but heart disease is."

Sorry sis, but apparently the vocal majority ruled. The Wall Street Journal (and others) report that Kenneth Pike has been returned to prison, no longer on the list for a possible heart transplant. The news report cites Pike's sister as saying he changed his mind, "after news reports sparked a debate over inmates receiving organ transplants at taxpayers expense."

I'm not sure I buy the idea that Pike himself had a change of heart. Let's not forget, this is the same guy who raped a 12-year-old relative, but either way, he has returned to Coxsackie Prison where he will next be eligible for parole in 2013.

At 55 years-old, with a pacemaker and a recently completed triple-bypass, maybe Pike will make it to his parole, maybe he won't. But for now, it appears the public outcry turned the tide and kept 800 large in the pockets of the New York taxpayers ... for now.