Doctors Say H.I.V. Organ Donations Ban Should Be Lifted
New York — Some health officials would like to lift a ban on H.I.V infected organ donors. The law which was enacted in 1988 prevents doctors from transplanting organs from H.I.V positive patients to other patients who are already infected.
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Many H.I.V. patients suffer kidney damage, either from medications or the virus itself. With a growing need for organ donors, some doctors hope that the infected patients can serve as donors for other infected patients, as well as non-infected patients potentially in the future.
“We would like to see as many safe transplants occurring as possible, and there’s no reason why H.I.V.-positive recipients shouldn’t get transplants and that H.I.V.-positive donors can’t be used,” said Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, who directs the C.D.C.’s Office of Blood, Organ and Other Tissue Safety.
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