Monthly Archives: January 2008

Australian Girl Takes on Organ Donor’s Immune System

A female teenager from Australia has become the world’s first known transplant patient to change blood groups and take on the immune system of her organ donor, doctors said last week, calling her a “one-in-six-billion miracle,” according to a Reuters news report. Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years [Sign in to read the full article...]

Canadian Organ Donor Professionals to Reach Out to Gay Community

Organ donor professionals in Ontario, Canada, will work closely with the gay community to counter an “offensive” Health Canada advisory that excluded gay men from becoming organ donors, Health Minister George Smitherman said last week. The Health Canada directive to exclude sexually active gay men from becoming organ donors was issued with little fanfare in [Sign in to read the full article...]

Jewish Hospital Stops AbioCor Heart Implant Surgeries

Surgeons at Louisville, Ky.’s Jewish Hospital, who performed the first surgeries to test the AbioCor artificial heart in 2001, have decided to stop implanting the device because it’s too expensive, according to The Courier-Journal newspaper. The hospital told Abiomed Inc., manufacturer of the totally implantable device, that it won’t take part when federally approved AbioCor [Sign in to read the full article...]