PITTSBURGH, Pa. (AP) — An HIV-positive man in need of a life-saving liver transplant was wrongly denied coverage under the state’s Medicaid program, an administrative law judge ruled.

William Jean Gough’s liver is deteriorating due to hepatitis C. Pittsburgh’s Thomas E. Starzle Transplant Institute accepted the 46-year-old as a strong transplant candidate in August.

The state Department of Public Welfare, which oversees the state’s Medicaid program, however, denied coverage for Gough, saying that HIV is a life-limiting condition that rules out a transplant.

In a recent ruling, Judge Bernadene Kennedy dismissed the state’s argument, saying that scientific advances allow people with HIV to live full lives.

“The appellant’s HIV is not a severe life-limiting disease and, in the opinion of the administrative law judge, should not be used as the sole justification to deny him a liver transplant and a chance at life,” Kennedy wrote.

Kennedy expedited the case because Gough’s condition worsens by the day and he could be ineligible for a transplant if his liver continues to deteriorate.

Doctors said Gough, of Altoona, could die in nine to 12 months without a transplant. The average wait is six to 12 months.

“I’ve struggled with this disease for many years and you’ve got to have hope,” Gough said. “I just think it’s a lack of education in our health care system. It seems to me the state’s working off of old criteria.”

Gough tested positive for HIV and hepatitis C in 1996. One doctor submitted an affidavit stating Gough’s HIV has been under control for years.

The Department of Public Welfare will not appeal the judge’s ruling, spokeswoman Stephanie Suran said.

It is the second time in two months that Lambda Legal, a gay legal rights group, has successfully argued that patients with HIV should not be excluded from transplants just because they are HIV-positive.

In October, Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest health maintenance organizations, approved a kidney transplant for an HIV-positive man in Denver, reversing an earlier decision. The HMO initially refused John Carl’s request for a new kidney, saying a transplant on someone with the HIV virus or AIDS is considered too risky because drugs used to suppress rejection of a new organ can jeopardize their already-weakened immune systems.

Hayley Gorenberg, who argued Gough’s case for Lambda, said delays from private and state health organizations could be costing people their lives.

“Clearly as more delays and more road blocks are thrown up, fewer people will survive,” Gorenberg said.

Judge Kennedy wrote that Gough, if treated, could lead a full life.

“The appellant could live ten, twenty, thirty years or more with a liver transplant,” Kennedy wrote. “Given his ability to successfully control his HIV, the appellant may live a prolonged life and maintain quality of life equivalent to non-HIV transplant patients.”