The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is one of four USA hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs. The law, which was reversed by the HOPE Act, prevented doctors from using these said organs, even if they were intended for patients who are HIV-positive as well.
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“There are now HIV-positive people in California waiting desperately for an organ transplant”, Zbur said.
ABC News reported that by Friday, the bill has already been approved by legislation, and transplant surgeon Dr. Peter Stock said that he hoped to perform the operation quickly. However, despite the federal law, several states, which then included California, still considered the medical procedure a crime.
The first organ transplant between an HIV-positive donor and an HIV-positive patient in California can take place this month. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, watch as the votes are posted for his emergency legislation that would allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband’s liver, Friday, May 27, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. California law prohibits authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs, but the passage of Allen’s bill will allow the procedure to be performed. Recent advances in testing and treatment for HIV and AIDS is now allowing patients to live far longer.
“This is a life-saving matter that aligns California with federal law, and the governor will sign this bill as soon as it arrives”, said Deborah Hoffman, a spokeswoman for Brown.
Stock received a grant in 1999 to transplant healthy livers and kidneys into patients with HIV.
“We had no idea it was still a felony in California”, said Stock, who has patients on the transplant list who have willing, living donors but he couldn’t perform the surgeries – until now.
In March, Johns Hopkins University completed the first organ transplant between HIV-positive patient and HIV-positive donor. “We found out about two weeks ago that we weren’t able to do transplants from HIV-positive donors to HIV-positive recipients”, according to a news report published by KCRA News. Brown’s office did not immediately have comment on the bill. At any given time, around 122,000 people in the United States are waiting on organ transplants. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, on Thursday morning, sending it to the governor’s desk for his signature.
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A federal law called the HOPE (HIV Organ Policy Equity) Act was signed in 2013 and allowed for these transplants – but California law trumped it.
