organ donor news stories on Newser

Facebook Is a Great Place to Find a Kidney

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 24 May 2012 08:39:43 CDT

People are increasingly turning to social media to search for kidney donors—and it turns out Facebook is actually a pretty great place to find one. In a study of almost 100 Facebook pages set up for the purpose, researchers found that nearly one-third had potential donors step forward to...

Organs From US Troops Save Lives in Europe

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 05 May 2012 06:26:15 CDT

Since 2006, organ donations from mortally wounded US troops have saved around 140 European lives, reports USA Today . The families of 36 American servicemembers who were declared brain dead from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan agreed to donate their hearts, kidneys, lungs, livers, and pancreases to patients in Europe. It's...

Kidney Gets Donated—Twice

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:58:05 CDT

It turns out you can recycle just about anything these days—even kidneys and other organs donated for transplants. In what is believed to be the first documented case of its kind in the US, a transplanted kidney that was failing was removed from a patient while he was still...

I Donated a Kidney, and You Should Too

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:15:05 CDT

"Most of us are walking around with a pretty impressive spare part," writes Jim Sollisch, one that 90,000 people are in the market for—a kidney. Sollisch is at 53% kidney function after donating his "spare part" to a co-worker, and will eventually hit 65%—only 50% is necessary....

Is Your Sex Life Too Active to Donate Organs?

Dustin Lushing — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:50:05 CST

Anyone who has had sex with two or more people in the past year could be classified as a risky organ donor even if they possess no other risk factors, according to new health guidelines proposed by the CDC. The new federal policy would flag organ donors who have not...

2 Slain Kids Save 12 Lives

Rob Quinn — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:43:05 CST

Donated organs from two children killed in a North Carolina mom's murder-suicide rampage have given life to a dozen others. Mary Ann Holder killed both her sons, one of their girlfriends, and a niece she was raising before turning the gun on herself last week. A spokesman for Carolina Donor...

New Organ Donation Rules: Smart or Scary?

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:49:01 CDT

New organ donation rules currently under consideration would make it easier for surgeons to retrieve organs for transplant after a donor’s heart stops beating—but opponents fear the changes will contribute to a culture of doctors “hovering, hovering, hovering to get more organs,” says one. The proposed rule changes involve...

New Kids Singer Saves Fan's Life

Rob Quinn — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:22:49 CDT

The '80s megastar Donnie Wahlberg came to the rescue of an ailing fan with some help from 21st-century technology. The New Kids On the Block singer re-tweeted a link to a blog post about a young fan in Nashville who was in desperate need of a kidney transplant to his...

Should We Lift Ban on HIV-Positive Organ Donors?

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:19:05 CDT

The US has, as one doctor says, a "huge organ shortage"—but there is one way we could make 500 to 600 more livers and kidneys available each year: lift the ban on HIV-positive donors. A controversial move, yes, but some federal health officials and other experts think it's a...