Four transplant recipients at three Chicago hospitals have contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a single organ donor, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
It's incredibly sad this could happen and I hope they'll start using the NAT test more judiciously in the future, but I understand the time constraints too. Occasionally there just is no time to wait for a few more hours. I think what bothers me most about this is the questionable informed consent of at least one of the recipients. She was doing well on dialysis and supposedly turned down a kidney a while back because of the high-risk behavior of the donor (which her current donor was known to have). Without knowing the full story, it sounds as if she may not have been given all the information she needed.
Organ transplantation obviously has inherent risk, and we try to do what we can to make it less risky. Bodies are unique and dynamic and I doubt we'll ever be able to anticipate or fix everything- though the healthcare collective will always strive to that end. We're all learning as we go. I don't think this incident should scare potential recipients away; instead, I think it should reiterate the importance of communication and informed consent... and the potential risk. My heart goes out to all four recipients and their families. Donate your organs, y'all!
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