Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
HIV organs for HIV patients
Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern medical school have proposed what they describe as a "bold and innovative" new way to increase the supply of transplant organs -- giving HIV-infected organs to HIV patients.
It's now illegal to transplant an organ from anyone who has HIV because the virus could infect the recipient.
The law makes it difficult for patients such as George Martinez, who's been waiting 14 months for a liver transplant. Martinez would be happy to get a liver from an HIV-positive donor. He's not worrie
about getting HIV because he already has it.
Martinez's doctors at Northwestern back a bill that would make Illinois the only state to allow transplants from HIV-positive donors, provided that the recipients also have HIV. The bill recently passed the Illinois House on a 95-22 vote and is pending in the Senate.
The measure "would open up opportunities for myself and others like me," Martinez said.
Nationwide, more than 84,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. An average of 16 patients die each day while waiting.
"We're looking for bold and innovative ways to increase the organ pool," said Dr. Patrick Lynch, a Northwestern liver specialist.
The proposal has sparked the interest of a producer from the TV show "ER." A producer from the show recently talked with Lynch about a possible plot involving an HIV-infected donor.
Opponents of the bill, though, worry that a hospital might mistakenly transplant an HIV organ into a pa
tient who isn't infected. They note that Duke University Medical Center performed a heart-lung transplant last year on a 17-year-old girl whose blood type didn't match. The girl's body rejected the organs, and she died after a second transplant.
"We read too often about mistakes being made in hospitals to think that this is failsafe," said state Rep. Terry Parke (R-Hoffman Estates).
The Illinois State Medical Society opposes the bill because it doesn't protect doctors from liability.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) said it's "highly remote" that a hospital would transplant an organ infected with HIV into the wrong patient.
Like Martinez, many people who have HIV also are infected with hepatitis, or "co-infected." Martinez runs a support group, called HEALTH, for people who are co-infected. Martinez nearly died of hepatitis-related liver failure in 2001 and continues to suffer fatigue.
Until a few years ago, HIV patients weren't candidates for organ transplants. Doctors thought that the drugs necessary to prevent organ rejection would fatally weaken immune systems already damaged by HIV.
But now HIV drug cocktails can protect a patient's immune system. Once a death sentence, HIV for many patients has become a manageable disease, like diabetes.
Northwestern has done one liver transplant on an HIV patient so far, and 10 HIV patients are on a waiting list. The hospital also is considering kidney transplants for HIV patients.
HIV can develop resistance to drug cocktails. So, in order to avoid introducing drug-resistant strains into transplant patients, Northwestern would use organs only from HIV donors who hadn't taken drug cocktails. Among people who have HIV, about 30 percent aren't on the cocktails, either because they don't know they're infected or because their immune systems are strong enough that they don't need the drugs.
During the past few years, hospitals have transplanted about 60 livers into HIV patients, using organs that weren't infected with the virus. Their one-year survival rate is 90 percent, which is comparable to patients without HIV, Lynch said.
He estimates that there could be between five and 12 HIV donors a year from the Chicago area.
"If we can save even a few lives, we think it's worth it," he said.
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If you kill off quickly all the negroes who are HIV +, you can save even more lives.
T.N.B.
Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern medical school have proposed what they describe as a "bold and innovative" new way to increase the supply of transplant organs -- giving HIV-infected organs to HIV patients.
It's now illegal to transplant an organ from anyone who has HIV because the virus could infect the recipient.
The law makes it difficult for patients such as George Martinez, who's been waiting 14 months for a liver transplant. Martinez would be happy to get a liver from an HIV-positive donor. He's not worrie
about getting HIV because he already has it.
Martinez's doctors at Northwestern back a bill that would make Illinois the only state to allow transplants from HIV-positive donors, provided that the recipients also have HIV. The bill recently passed the Illinois House on a 95-22 vote and is pending in the Senate.
The measure "would open up opportunities for myself and others like me," Martinez said.
Nationwide, more than 84,000 people are waiting for organ transplants. An average of 16 patients die each day while waiting.
"We're looking for bold and innovative ways to increase the organ pool," said Dr. Patrick Lynch, a Northwestern liver specialist.
The proposal has sparked the interest of a producer from the TV show "ER." A producer from the show recently talked with Lynch about a possible plot involving an HIV-infected donor.
Opponents of the bill, though, worry that a hospital might mistakenly transplant an HIV organ into a pa
tient who isn't infected. They note that Duke University Medical Center performed a heart-lung transplant last year on a 17-year-old girl whose blood type didn't match. The girl's body rejected the organs, and she died after a second transplant.
"We read too often about mistakes being made in hospitals to think that this is failsafe," said state Rep. Terry Parke (R-Hoffman Estates).
The Illinois State Medical Society opposes the bill because it doesn't protect doctors from liability.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) said it's "highly remote" that a hospital would transplant an organ infected with HIV into the wrong patient.
Like Martinez, many people who have HIV also are infected with hepatitis, or "co-infected." Martinez runs a support group, called HEALTH, for people who are co-infected. Martinez nearly died of hepatitis-related liver failure in 2001 and continues to suffer fatigue.
Until a few years ago, HIV patients weren't candidates for organ transplants. Doctors thought that the drugs necessary to prevent organ rejection would fatally weaken immune systems already damaged by HIV.
But now HIV drug cocktails can protect a patient's immune system. Once a death sentence, HIV for many patients has become a manageable disease, like diabetes.
Northwestern has done one liver transplant on an HIV patient so far, and 10 HIV patients are on a waiting list. The hospital also is considering kidney transplants for HIV patients.
HIV can develop resistance to drug cocktails. So, in order to avoid introducing drug-resistant strains into transplant patients, Northwestern would use organs only from HIV donors who hadn't taken drug cocktails. Among people who have HIV, about 30 percent aren't on the cocktails, either because they don't know they're infected or because their immune systems are strong enough that they don't need the drugs.
During the past few years, hospitals have transplanted about 60 livers into HIV patients, using organs that weren't infected with the virus. Their one-year survival rate is 90 percent, which is comparable to patients without HIV, Lynch said.
He estimates that there could be between five and 12 HIV donors a year from the Chicago area.
"If we can save even a few lives, we think it's worth it," he said.
*****************
If you kill off quickly all the negroes who are HIV +, you can save even more lives.
T.N.B.