4 transplant recipients get HIV from donor

Chicago Tribune ^ | 11/13/2007 | Jeremy Manier

[sharkhawk]

Four transplant recipients in Chicago contracted HIV from a high-risk organ donor whose infection went undetected in what hospital officials say is the first documented case of the virus being transmitted by organ donation in the U.S. in more than 20 years....

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I still open doors for my wife, or other known ladies. I also open doors for strangers when they seem to need help (e.g. they’ve got their hands full with parcels, or kids). I look at their eyes for any signs that they don’t appreciate the gesture. Maybe I should be looking at the feet. ;-) Anyhow, things seem to have leveled off now — guys don’t feel obliged to open doors for any and all women & most women won’t take offence if they do.

[Alice in Wonderland]

About 20 years ago, my best friend lost both her teenage sons (her only children) to AIDS. Both boys were hemophiliacs and had received tainted blood transfusions.

[Dengar01]

I just read this in the Trib. I love how they only say the donor engaged in "high risk behavior". Why the hell would they let someone involved in that behavior donate an organ? I can't donate blood because I have allergies.

But God forbid you tell one of them they can't donate their tainted organs and you'll have the ACLU on you.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

I suspect that the form goes unfilled fairly often for a variety of reasons (including malice); but, it’s better than nothing.

Tainted blood was a huge issue in Canada — we even had a full-blown Royal Commission look into it. The Red Cross was prohibited from collecting any more blood & a new independent blood collection agency was established.

Even after all of that the “gay community” was up in arms when the new blood collection agency announced that it would not use the blood from high-risk individuals (e.g. “men who have sex with men”). It was a remarkable display of chutzpah — one that could only happen in real life, because no fiction writer could dream up anything so absurd. Much as they cried “discrimination”, the “gay” lobbyists couldn’t get any traction with the public — because everyone knew the risks too well by then.

[sharkhawk]

To be fair. They did say the rules are in cases such as this, that the recipient should be informed and sign off on the donation. The hospitals would not confirm that this was done, however we have to consider that the number of organ matches are small, and the need is so great. It is a tough call.

[sharkhawk]

Wasn’t that blood received from prisoners in Ark. Sent by that known humanist Slick Willy?

[subterfuge]

I suspect that the form goes unfilled fairly often for a variety of reasons (including malice); but, it’s better than nothing. Tainted blood was a huge issue in Canada

Like when Arkansas sold HIV tainted blood of it's prison population to Canada when Slick Willie was governor?

[Grizzled Bear]

And we have the homosexual activists demanding “The Right” to donate blood.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

The Arkansas blood was part of the problem; but we had our own tainted blood too.

Imagine for a moment what the reaction would be if it were discovered that some of this blood came from Texas prisons, while GWB was governor. As it is, Willie just got yet another pass.

[BerryDingle]

“Like when Arkansas sold HIV tainted blood of it’s prison population to Canada when Slick Willie was governor?”

I was thinking the same thing, you beat me to it.

[Coastie]

Organ donation is life or death, you receive the organ and you may live, you don’t get them you die. So, it’s small comfort to these individuals, that yes, you’ll live, but you have aids. How would we decide? Indeed a tough call.

[metmom]

And if he filled out a questionnaire and admitted that he engaged in high risk behavior, then why did the medical community use his organs?

They know that the virus needs time to incubate and a negative is meaningless.

[Secret Agent Man]

Since when can’t you donate because you have allergies? Lots of people have allergies. Are you talking life-threatening allergies like food allergies or something?

[Fire_on_High]

Some medications are also a no-go for donation, and if the poster is on one of those medications FOR the allergies, then they’d be rejected.

[Secret Agent Man]

Thanks for the background info. I guess I should have thought that those circumstances would also be taken into consideration. I’m not on anything that isn’t OTC.