Transplanting Disease

It's well known that organ transplants can save lives. It is, sadly, also true that they can cost lives - and not only through surgery. I reported last year on the case of a young woman who died of lung cancer after receiving a smoker's lungs. In the US, one man has died and three others are receiving treatment after being given organs from a donor who died of rabies in 2011. Again, this is a tragic case, but - lest donation rates be harmed by negative publicity - it's worth stressing the concluding statement that the benefits of organ donation generally outweigh the risks: even those who die due to an infected transplant may well have died without it.