Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - November 18, 2008
Deborah L. Shelton,dshelton@tribune.com
The patient, identified only as Jane Doe, alleges the hospital knew that the donor, who was homosexual, was in a high-risk group but withheld the information. Had she known of the "true nature of the donor's lifestyle and the risks associated with receiving his kidney," she would not have consented to the surgery, the lawsuit said.
Four transplant recipients contracted HIV from the 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. The Tribune first reported on the infections a year ago.
Officials have not released any personal details about the donor or recipients, citing medical privacy laws. The suit was filed anonymously to protect the woman's privacy, said her attorney, Thomas Demetrio.
A hospital spokesman said officials would not comment on a pending legal matter.
The woman, now 33 and living in the Chicago area, was on dialysis for a condition that was not life-threatening when a transplant coordinator at the medical center notified her of an available kidney, the suit said. The kidney was transplanted Jan. 9, 2007.
The woman was asked Nov. 1, 2007, to return to the hospital for testing because one of the other organ recipients from the same donor had tested positive for HIV. The test determined she was infected with both HIV and hepatitis C, Demetrio said.
The suit charges medical negligence for failing to notify the woman of the donor's high-risk behavior and for not testing her for HIV three months after the transplant, as recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the case of high-risk donors.
The donor had not tested positive for the diseases, probably because the person had been infected too recently for it to register on the screening tests used. The U. of C. Medical Center was one of three area hospitals that transplanted organs from the donor, who died of injuries sustained in an auto accident.
In July the patient's body rejected the kidney. She is back on dialysis, awaiting another transplant.
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