The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced April 9 that it is seeking proposals from hospitals and organ procurement organizations (OPOs) to develop clinical intervention programs designed to approach families about donation after circulatory determination of death (DCDD) – in both controlled and uncontrolled settings. The deadline for filing applications is less than two [Sign in to read the full article...]

Former conjoined twin Maliyah Herrin was discharged from a hospital April 21 – less than three weeks after receiving a kidney from her mother, the Associated Press reports. The five-year-old went home in good condition, according to a spokeswoman. Born fused at the torso, Maliyah and her sister, Kendra, were separated in August. While surgeons [Sign in to read the full article...]

The final patient in Kaiser Permanente’s troubled kidney transplant program was transferred to a University of California hospital earlier this month, effectively shuttering the program, according to a report from the San Mateo County Times newspaper.   On April 4, the final patient was transferred from Kaiser to UCSF and added to the national United [Sign in to read the full article...]

A novel device that keeps organs functioning outside the body could dramatically improve the success of transplants and provide new ways of treating tumors and liver disease, according to an article in the United Kingdom’s Telegraph newspaper. Scientists at the University of Oxford have been able to disconnect an organ from the body’s blood supply [Sign in to read the full article...]

Australian health authorities will consider introducing routine testing for a previously unknown virus that caused the deaths of three organ transplant recipients in Victoria earlier this year, according to a report from The Age newspaper. The virus was discovered after three women ages 63, 64 and 44 died within a week of each other in [Sign in to read the full article...]