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Infected Transplant Recipient Files Suit

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By LINDSEY TANNER, The Associated Press

Published: November 17, 2007

CHICAGO - A woman in her 30s who is one of the four organ transplant patients infected with HIV and hepatitis was not told that the infected donor was high risk, and had previously rejected another donor "because of his lifestyle," her attorney said.

Attorney Thomas Demetrio filed a petition Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of the woman, asking officials to keep a hospital and an organ procurement center from destroying or altering any records involving the donation.

"She's really a mess right now," Demetrio said of the Chicago-area woman. "She's still in shock."

The patient, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, received a kidney transplant at the University of Chicago Medical Center on Jan. 9, Demetrio said.

Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network in Elmhurst and the University of Chicago both knew the kidney donor was high-risk and did not inform the patient, Demetrio said.

University of Chicago spokesman John Easton responded in an e-mail: "We believe we follow guidelines, and of course with the patient's consent we will provide necessary records and documents, as is consistent with our open process."

The woman had been told the donor was a healthy young man, her attorney said. On Tuesday, however, hospital officials disclosed to the woman that he was actually a high-risk, 38-year-old gay man, Demetrio said.
CDC guidelines say that gay men who are sexually active should not be used as organ donors unless the patient is in imminent danger of death.

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