Posted on 05/27/2010 2:42:26 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Vincent Liew waited five years for the kidney that was supposed to change his life. Instead, the organ ended it.
The kidney came from a woman who had uterine cancer, but she and doctors didn't know it. Once her disease was discovered after the transplant, Liew's doctors highly doubted it could spread to him.
But in seven months, Liew was killed by cancer that his autopsy linked to the transplant. His death, the subject of a medical malpractice trial in which closing arguments were scheduled for Thursday, is believed to be the only reported instance of uterine cancer apparently being transmitted by transplant, medical experts say.
The case has reignited questions about the sometimes hidden risks carried by transplanted organs, risks that transplant experts say they have worked to minimize but can't eliminate — but are worth taking for many patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Here’s the real problem, IMO. Transplant patients are put on drugs to suppress the immune system. I knew of a heart transplant young man (son of a co-worker) who died a few years later of cancer because of the immunosuppressants. That probably has a lot to do with this man’s cancer growing.
Beat me to it!
Good point re the effect of immuno-suppressants on the transplant patient and IMO another argument against a verdict of malpractice in such cases.
” ... why pray tell are not organs screened for diseases..”
They are. This woman’s cancer hadn’t been diagnosed and wasn’t found till they did her autopsy. Transplants have to be done within 24 hours of the donor’s passing.
If you read the article it addresses testing that is done within the limited time frame. They also list the exceedingly low number of deaths from diseased organs compared to the restored lives.
When it was discovered the donor had cancer, the recipient was notified, with the assumption that it would not transfer to him; he chose not to have the kidney removed.
I’d have an awfully hard time finding for the plaintiff, as tragic as this is, unless there are factors (as there inevitably are) that aren’t available.
It almost reads like ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’
They are, but its an expanding list and the tests are highly specific. That's why the gays are so crazy in asking to donate blood. For every virus you catch, there's people that will die because you miss things that haven't made the screening list yet.
“...is believed to be the only reported instance of uterine cancer apparently being transmitted by transplant, medical experts say.”
That’s strange. Scientists studying cancer inject lab mice with cancer cells all the time to give them cancer so they can study various ways to trying to stop it. Why should it be a surprise here with human beings?
RIP.
Somewhere, 1000 trial lawyers just got a boner.
That would be profiling. Try to keep up! ;-P
On January 31, 2009 my brother died after an 11-month long painful struggle from a yeast infection that he contracted from his kidney transplant on March 17,2008. His surgeons discovered that he had contracted the life-threatening infection 8 days after his kidney transplant surgery, and although it was dangerous, they convinced him to keep the kidney. They would fight the infection since they were unclear if he would get the chance to have another kidney or survive the surgery to remove it ... they wanted the transplant to be a success. Either way, they wanted to keep it in against the odds and told us they would take it out if they felt they needed to.
This was a highly trained and intelligent team of doctors whom we trusted. My brother was walking and living on his own the day before the transplant, which he waited 5 years for! He went through numerous painful procedures and surgeries to fight the yeast, becoming so numb that they didn't even take him into the OR to clean out the kidney, just did it at the bedside where he could watch. The infection spread throughout his body and even when we asked them to remove it, they were still confident they could beat it.
Well, they killed the yeast but it was too late to take out the kidney and they killed the kidney as well; his body just started shutting down. After 11 months of tremendous pain and struggling, he died in a small local hospital where he begged us to transfer him to be closer to home. He died with congestive heart failure, on dialysis, suffering from malnutrition due to his inability to digest protein because his liver and stomach had failed as well. He had lost some of his veins after so many months; he lost an artery in his leg as well, until finally he died after numerous surgeries trying to repair all of the damage his body had taken.
IT IS SIMPLY A MATTER OF BETTER SCREENING AND ASKING A FEW MORE QUESTIONS IN THE QUESTIONAIRE ABOUT BEING AN ORGAN DONOR. You see, his donor had a history of yeast infections and urinary tract infections, and when he was put on the anti-rejection meds it brought the infection to life. The doctors didn't see the yeast in the biopsy of the donor because it was deep inside but knew they should have looked better into the medical history. It was in her records and they said that they should have known not to take it. TRANSPLANTATION IS BIG BUSINESS NOW AND THEY NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL. I work in a hospital and am for transplantation, but for better screening so that no one has to suffer like my brother did. We knew the risks, but not this one, and listened to the surgeons when they said we can fight this. BE AWARE AND LOOK FOR BETTER SCREENING.
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