Organ Transplants Gone Horribly Awry

Transplanting organs is an inherently risky business, as the powerful immune-suppressing drugs that allow recipients' bodies to accept new organs can readily cause infection, cancer, and other health problems. But if the organ itself is diseased, the results can be devastating. The AP reports that 15-year-old Alex Koehne, whose parents agreed to donate his organs once they learned he was close to dying of bacterial meningitis, in fact died of a rare form of lymphoma that wasn't found until his autopsy. As a result, the patients who received his liver, pancreas, and kidneys also developed the same cancer. Two of them died, while the kidney recipients are currently undergoing treatment for the disease. Meanwhile, the family of Tony Grier—a transplant recipient who died after receiving a cancerous lung—suing the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the doctors who performed the transplant. His family claims that hospital officials told Grier ...