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Cary Gallant’s alcoholic liver disease is so advanced, doctors say the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., man has just a 25-per-cent chance of surviving the next six months.

One thing — an organ transplant — could save his life. But it’s not an option, a long-standing rule stipulating that such patients be sober six months before being considered for the procedure.

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So in what appears to be an unprecedented legal tactic, Gallant plans to ask the courts next week for an injunction forcing provincial authorities to place him onto Ontario’s transplant list.

The 45-year-old’s lawyer, Michael Fenrick, said he’s unaware of any other attempt to have a Canadian made eligible for a transplant through judicial order.

The injunction request is part of a constitutional challenge of a policy Fenrick says has no foundation in science, but much to do with the stigma around drinking-related illness.

“This is really his only and best hope, sadly,” the lawyer said. “In order to be listed for a transplant in the first place, you’re likely in a situation where your life is in grave and imminent peril … People in this situation most often can’t wait six months.”