Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: organ donor

organ donor stories: 20 news summaries
OPINION

Live Kidney Donors Should Be Encouraged, Not Doubted

Activist seeking organ gets help from friends

Mar 27, 09 11:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - When Frances Kissling learned she needed a kidney transplant, she took a step most people in her situation never do: She asked dozens of friends and colleagues if they would be willing to donate. "I was bowled over by how people responded," the Catholic feminist activist writes for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • organ donor • kidney transplant • donor • organ donation • transplant list • dialysis • Frances Kissling • Anna Quindlen

 Richardson Lives on 
 Through Donated Organs 

Plus, Redgrave signs on for new film

Mar 25, 09 9:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Natasha Richardson’s death had the tiniest sliver of a silver lining: Her family donated her organs, the New York Post reports. “Doctors spent six hours harvesting all her organs. Some patient is going to wake up in the recovery room and start reciting Shakespeare,” said a source.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
film • Robin Hood • organ donor • celebrity • death • Cate Blanchett • Ridley Scott • Russell Crowe • organ donation • Natasha Richardson • Vanessa Redgrave




 Man Finds Kidney 
 Donor—on Craigslist 

Normal wait would have been 6 years

Feb 18, 09 4:25 PM CST
(Newser) - Daniel Flood may owe his life to Craigslist—and his three tech-savvy daughters who posted a plea for a kidney on the classifieds site. After his lone kidney was damaged, Flood faced years of waiting for a donor matching his rare blood type. His daughters sifted through more than 100... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Craigslist • organ donor • kidney • kidney transplant

 Docs Detail 
 Near-Total 
 Face Transplant 



Unnamed patient now has 'face to face the world:' surgeon

Dec 17, 08 2:29 PM CST
(Newser) - Cleveland Clinic officials say the woman who underwent the most comprehensive face transplant yet exhausted conventional options before agreeing to the risky 22-hour procedure in which 80% of her face was replaced with a cadaver’s. The unnamed patient lacked a nose or palate and couldn’t eat or breathe... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medical breakthrough • organ donor • face transplant • reconstructive surgery • Cleveland Clinic • organ donation

Blood-Cell Mix Could Help in Transplants

Combining recipient, donor blood can halt rejection process

Aug 7, 08 2:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists have found a technique that could eliminate the need for transplant patients to endure a regimen of powerful and side-effect-inducing anti-rejection drugs, the BBC reports. By mixing the patient's infection-fighting white blood cells with modified cells from the organ donor, the rejection process can be halted. More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • organ donor • transplant • drug cocktail • white blood cells

 Racial 'Transplant Gap' Persists 

Blacks more prone to kidney disease, get just 19% of transplants; many factors at play

Jul 8, 08 12:46 PM CDT
(Newser) - Financial struggles and difficulty finding donors—as well as an unclear “transplant gap”—make African Americans less likely to get kidney transplants than whites, the Chicago Tribune reports. Many remain on dialysis, making daily life harder and increasing the risk of death. “You can explain most of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health care • organ donor • kidney • kidney transplant • African-Americans • dialysis

 Docs Pull Off 6-Kidney Swap 

Johns Hopkins' 13-hour 'domino' session goes off without a hitch

Apr 9, 08 1:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - In a procedure that took 13 hours and involved more than 100 medical personnel, Johns Hopkins Hospital pulled off the US' first six-way kidney transplant, the Baltimore Sun reports. Six donors provided six patients with working organs in Saturday's so-called "domino" procedure. All 12 were listed in good condition... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ donor • transplant • hospital • Johns Hopkins University • kidney transplant • organ donation • transplant list

Tragic Bond Links Heart Donor, Recipient

Men married same woman, committed suicide 12 years apart

Apr 7, 08 4:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Georgia man who took his own life last week had lived 12 years after receiving a transplanted heart from a South Carolina man who also committed suicide, police said. And in a twist worthy of Edgar Allan Poe, the donor's widow had met and married the recipient, the Hilton... More »

MORE ABOUT:
suicide • obituary • heart transplants • organ donor • transplant • heart failure • heart surgery • organ donation • gunshot wounds

Case Against Transplant Doc Raises Concern

Prosecution claims he killed for organs; others say technique to blame

Feb 27, 08 11:11 AM CST
(Newser) - Charges against a California surgeon for hastening the death of a disabled man so his organs could be harvested for transplants has advocates worried, the New York Times reports. At issue is whether Dr. Hootan Roozrokh ignored protocol in pursuit of organs for transplant or if he misused, or misunderstood,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ harvesting • organ transplants • medical malpractice • Stanford University • organ donor • hospital • Hootan Roozrokh • surgeon • cardiac-death organ donations • brain-death organ donations • American Society of Transplant Surgeons • Donate Life America • Betadine • adrenoleukodystrophy • California Transplant Donor Network • United Network for Organ Sharing

UK Pushes 'Opt-Out' Organ Donor Plan

Patient groups say 'presumed consent' is no consent at all

Jan 13, 08 7:46 PM CST
(Newser) - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown is backing an initiative to let hospitals harvest organs from dead patients without their consent, the Telegraph reports. The plan, which could take effect this year, presumes consent unless patients opt out or family members object. The goal is to help the 1,000 Britons... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • organ transplants • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • organ donor • Britain

Organ Donor Gives HIV
to 4 Chicago Patients

Flaw in tests allowed disease to go undetected

Nov 13, 07 1:07 PM CST
(Newser) - A flaw in HIV testing procedures led to the infection of four organ-transplant recipients in Chicago, the Tribune reports, the first such cases in more than 20 years. Follow-up tests were never performed, so the four are only now discovering their infections from the January transplants. The donor was flagged... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ transplants • HIV • public health • organ donor

Kidney Swap Might Abate Organ Shortage

Incompatible donor-
recipient pairs find matches in strangers

Oct 15, 07 1:28 PM CDT
(Newser) - One woman desperately needs a kidney transplant; her husband wants to donate but is incompatible. Across the country, the same scenario. But the healthy spouses match the unhealthy spouse in the other couple and make a reciprocated donation to a stranger. About 230 such swaps have taken place since 2000,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • organ donor • kidney transplant • waiting list

Poor Pakistanis Sell Kidneys to Rich Foreigners

Organ sales are still legal in Pakistan; prices are as low as $1,700

Aug 26, 07 2:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - In the village of Sultanpur More, Pakistan, hundreds of people have long purple scars in their sides from selling their kidneys—for as little as $1,700—to pay off debts and to make dowry payments, the Chicago Tribune reports.  There are only a few countries that don't prohibit... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pakistan • organ harvesting • organ donor • transplant • kidney • poverty • kidney transplant • organ selling

Transplant Doc Accused of Quickening Patient's Death

Organ-donation controversy erupts

Jul 31, 07 5:56 PM CDT
(Newser) - A San Francisco surgeon is facing unprecedented felony charges of accelerating the death of a 25-year-old disabled man to harvest his organs for transplant. The doctor denies the charges that he acted without a legitimate medical purpose, the LA Times reports, but the controversy is bad news for transplant doctors... More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ harvesting • medical malpractice • organ donor • patient • transplant • disability • doctor • Hootan Roozrokh • Ruben Navarro • surgeon

UK's Top Doc Calls for Organ Donation to Be Default Option

Says it's the only way
to meet demand

Jul 17, 07 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - The UK's chief doctor is calling for everyone who doesn't specify otherwise to be automatically considered an organ donor. Sir Liam Donaldson says not only does the UK face a severe shortage of donated organs, as do other countries, but 70% say they want to donate and only 20% end... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • organ donor

Kidney Donor Reality Show Was a Hoax

Broadcaster draws praise for raising awareness of transplant-organ shortage

Jun 2, 07 10:48 AM CDT
(Newser) - A controversial Dutch reality show featuring a dying woman’s choice of a kidney recipient aired last night—and was revealed as a hoax. The "donor" was an actor; the contestants were real patients who were in on the prank. A producer said the goal was to call attention... More »

MORE ABOUT:
medicine • health care • reality TV • organ transplants • The Big Donor Show • Endemol • organ donor

Medical Reality Show Raises Controversy

Kidney donor, on deathbed, to select recipient on Dutch TV

May 29, 07 7:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The brains behind "Big Brother" are branching out into medicine and stirring up serious controversy in the process. "The Big Donor Show," set to air on Dutch TV Friday, follows a terminally ill woman as she chooses among three contestants vying for one of her kidneys. One... More »

MORE ABOUT:
ethics • reality TV • organ transplants • The Big Donor Show • Endemol • organ donor • Dutch TV

Kidney Sales Brisk On India's Black Market

Desperate tsunami survivors
sacrificing their kidneys, getting ripped off by doctors and dealers

May 9, 07 10:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Women impoverished by the catastrophic tsunami of 2004 are selling their kidneys on India's lucrative black market in ever increasing numbers. Wired reports on an international organ-donor scandal in which desperate donors are often ripped off by unscrupulous doctors and dealers who take the organs and keep the money. More »

MORE ABOUT:
organ harvesting • India • women • black market • organ donor • kidney • organ trafficking

Docs Accused Of Hurrying Death To Harvest Organs

"They were waiting like vultures,"
the patient's sister said

Apr 12, 07 11:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - A 47-year-old man was wrongly declared brain dead by two doctors apparently eager to harvest his organs, reports the LA Times. "They were waiting like vultures, so they could scoop them up," says the patient’s daughter, Melanie Sanchez. A third doctor determined that her father, who had... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • organ harvesting • hospitals • science • patients • organ donor • transplant • organs • doctor

States Rewrite Organ-Donation Laws

New revision would make it easier to obtain organs

Apr 4, 07 11:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - Doctors will be able to take organs from potential donors in more sticky situations, under revisions to state laws on the boards in more than 24 states. Model legislation that's already passed in four states clarifies how to handle ethically complex decisions, helping to alleviate the chronic shortage of kidneys... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • organ harvesting • law • organ donor • will • living will • patient • life support • state governments

20 Stories


from our news partners