First Double Leg Transplant Patient Loses Legs

Unrelated illness forces him to stop taking anti-rejection drugs
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 11, 2013 11:36 AM CDT
First Double Leg Transplant Patient Loses Legs
Dr. Pedro Cavadas, who led the team that carried out the first double leg transplant, listens during a press conference in La Fe hospital in Valencia, Spain, Tuesday, July 12, 2011.   (AP Photo/Fernando Bustamante)

A sad ending to the story of the first double leg transplant: The unnamed patient had to have his new legs, which were transplanted almost two years ago, amputated. The man, who initially lost his legs in a road accident and was in his 20s at the time of the transplant, got sick and was forced to stop taking the immuno-suppressant anti-rejection drugs he was meant to be on for the rest of his life, a Spanish hospital says. No word on the illness, which was not related to the transplant, but doctors said treating it was "more urgent" than keeping the legs, the BBC reports. (More transplant stories.)

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