This list of notable organ transplant donors and recipients includes people who were the first to undergo certain organ transplant procedures or were people who made significant contributions to their chosen field and who have either donated or received an organ transplant at some point in their lives, as confirmed by public information.
Survival statistics depend greatly on the age of donor, age of recipient, skill of the transplant center, compliance of the recipient, whether the organ came from a living or deceased donor and overall health of the recipient. Median survival rates can be quite misleading, especially for the relatively small sample that is available for these organs. Survival rates improve almost yearly, due to improved techniques and medications. This example is from the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS), the USA umbrella organization for transplant centers. Up-to-date data can be obtained from the UNOS website.
| Transplant Type | Median survival |
|---|---|
| Liver transplant | 16 years |
| Heart transplant | 10 years |
| Kidney transplant | 16 years |
| Procedure | Doctor in charge of transplant | Name of recipient | Organ donated by | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First corneal transplant | Eduard Zirm | Alois Glogar | Karl Brauer | December 7, 1905 | [1] | ||
| First human kidney transplant | Joseph Murray | Richard Herrick | Ronald Herrick (twin brother) | December 23, 1954 | Approx. 8 years | [2] | |
| First human liver transplant | Thomas Starzl | First transplant was unsuccessful. The first successful liver transplant was performed by Starzl four years later. | 1963 | [3] | |||
| First human lung transplant | James D. Hardy | First transplant was unsuccessful. The first successful lung transplant was performed in 1983 by Joel Cooper. | 1963 | [3] | |||
| First human heart transplant | Christiaan Barnard | Louis Washkansky | Denise Darvall | Transplant was only good for 18 days. Washkansky died on December 21, 1967. | December 3, 1967 | 18 days | [4] |
| First Heart and Lung Transplant | Brenda Barber | 1984 - UK's first successful heart and lung transplant | 1984 | 10 years | |||
| First human hand transplant | Earl Owen and Jean-Michel Dubernard | Clint Hallam | The transplanted hand was removed at request of recipient after about two and a half years on February 2, 2001. | September 23, 1998 | [5] | ||
| First human pancreas transplant | Richard Lillehei and William Kelly | Anonymous "young woman" | Patient survived for 4+1⁄2 months and died in May 1967 of a lung infection and pneumonia. | December 16, 1966 | [6] [7] [8] | ||
| First partial human face transplant | Jean-Michel Dubernard and Bernard Devauchelle | Isabelle Dinoire | Dinoire's body rejected the transplant in 2015 and she lost part of the use of her lips. The daily immunosuppressive drugs she was required to take left her vulnerable to cancer which later claimed her life. | November 27, 2005 | 10 years | [9] [10] | |
| First transplant of a human organ grown from adult stem cells | [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] | ||||||
| First human penis transplant | Transplant was done to a 21-year-old male with penis amputation due to problem of circumcision before. | December 2014 | [16] |
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| Name | Life | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mandy Patinkin | (1952–) | Actor. He suffered from keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, in the mid-1990s. This led to two corneal transplants; his right cornea in 1997, and his left in 1998. | 1997, 1998 | [17] | |
| Nicholas Currie, also known as Momus | (1960–) | Scottish musician, journalist, and performance artist. Underwent transplant after infection from acanthamoeba keratitis, resulting in improved vision. | 1999 | [18] |
See also Category:Heart transplant recipients
| Name | Life | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Altman | (1925–2006) | Film Director. Announced the transplant at the 78th Academy Awards in 2005 while accepting his Lifetime Achievement Oscar. Altman said, "I'm here under false pretenses … Eleven years ago I had a heart transplant, a total heart transplant. I got the heart of, I think, a young woman who was in about in her late thirties. By that kind of calculation you may be giving this award too early because I think I've got about 40 years left." | 1995 | 11 years | [19] |
| Kurtis Blow | (1959–) | Rapper. He received a heart transplant on December 6, 2020. | 2020 | [20] | |
| Robert P. Casey | (1932–2000) | 41st Governor of Pennsylvania. Announced that he needed a rare heart/liver transplant due to a rare genetic condition in which proteins invade and destroy major bodily organs. Shortly after the announcement, Casey received the heart and liver from a 35-year-old African-American male who was killed in an auto accident near Erie, Pennsylvania. The short time between the announcement and the operation lead to accusations that Casey was secretly placed on the top of the waiting list, along with sparking an urban legend that the donor was "killed" by the Pennsylvania State Police in order to "harvest" the organs. | 1993 | 6 years | |
| Dick Cheney | (1941–) | Vice President of the United States 2001–2009. Received his heart transplant on March 24, 2012, at Inova Fairfax Hospital | March 24, 2012 | [21] | |
| Erik Compton | (1979–) | American professional golfer | 1992, 2008 | [22] | |
| Glen Gondrezick | (1953–2009) | American basketball player, formerly in the NBA, and broadcaster. | September 20, 2008 | 7 months | [23] |
| Jonathan Hardy | (1940–2012) | New Zealand actor. Starred as voice of Rygel on Farscape ; wrote the screenplay for Breaker Morant and was nominated for an Academy Award. | 1988 | 24 years | |
| Billy T. James | (1948–1991) | New Zealand comedian and entertainer. | 1989 | 2 years | [24] |
| Simon Keith | (1965–) | British Professional Footballer. Recognized as the first athlete to play a professional sport after undergoing a heart transplant. | 1986, 2019 | 35 years | |
| Eddie Large | (1941–2020) | British comedian. One half of the comedy duo Little and Large. | 2002 | 18 years | |
| Mussum | (1941–1994) | Brazilian actor, singer and comedian. | July 12, 1994 | 17 days | [25] |
| Norton Nascimento | (1962–2007) | Brazilian actor. | December 19, 2003 | 4 years | [27] |
| Kelly Perkins | (1961–) | Author and noted world-class mountain climber who has set world records as the first ever heart transplant recipient to scale the most famous mountains in the world. | 1995 | [29] | |
| Jerry Richardson | (1938–) | American businessman and principal owner of the NFL's Carolina Panthers. | February 1, 2009 | [30] | |
| Sandro | (1945–2010) | Argentine singer and actor. He died after complications of a heart–lung transplant. | November 20, 2009 | 45 days | [31] |
| Carroll Shelby | (1923–2012) | American entrepreneur famous for his race car driving and automotive developments in designing the cult-classic Shelby Cobras and Ford's Shelby Mustang. Carroll Shelby received a heart transplant in 1990, then in 1996, a living donor kidney transplant from his son. Carroll died May 10, 2012, at the age of 89. | Heart: 1990; Kidney: 1996 | Heart: 22 years; Kidney: 16 years | [32] |
| Cal Stoll | (1923-2000) | American football player and coach. | Heart: 1987 | Heart: 13 years | [33] |
| Frank Torre | (1931–2014) | American baseball player, brother of Joe Torre. | Heart: 1996; Kidney: 2007 | Heart: 18 years; Kidney: 7 years |
See also Category:Kidney transplant recipients
| Name | Life | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erma Bombeck | (1927–1996) | Comedian. Diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. She was on the transplant list prior to her diagnosis with breast cancer, and was removed from the list while being treated as is standard procedure. She was placed back on the list after her treatment was completed, and died from complications of the transplant surgery. | April 3, 1996 | 20 days | [ citation needed ] |
| Steven Cojocaru | (1965–) | Fashion critic and member of Entertainment Tonight . In November 2004 he announced that he was suffering from polycystic kidney disease and would require a kidney transplant. He underwent transplant surgery on January 14, 2005, after his friend Abby Finer donated one of her kidneys. Later, the kidney became infected by a virus, and in June 2005 he underwent a second operation to have the new kidney removed. On August 17, he announced that his body was free of the viral infection and that he was ready to find a new transplant. He then received a second kidney transplant, which was donated by his mother. | 2005 | [34] [35] | |
| Natalie Cole | (1950–2015) | Singer-songwriter | May 20, 2009 | 6 years | [36] |
| Gary Coleman | (1968–2010) | Actor who played Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes . Received two separate kidney transplants, one in 1973 and another in 1984. | 26 years (from second transplant) | [37] | |
| Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland | (1973–) | Prince of Sweden, husband of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden and former personal trainer and gym owner. Underwent a kidney transplant at Karolinska University Hospital, his father was the donor. | May 27, 2009 | [38] | |
| Lucy Davis | (1973–) | Actress best known for playing the character Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy, The Office . Kidney received in 1997, which was donated by her mother. | 1997 | [39] | |
| Kenny Easley | (1959–) | Former NFL player | June 7, 1990 | [40] | |
| Aron Eisenberg | (1969–2019) | Actor, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | December 29, 2015 | 4 years [41] [ circular reference ] | [42] |
| Sean Elliott | (1968–) | NBA basketball star. The kidney was donated by his brother. Elliott made history by returning to play in the NBA following his surgery. | August 16, 1999 | [43] | |
| Selena Gomez | (1992–) | Actress and singer. The kidney was donated by Gomez's best friend, actress Francia Raisa. | 2017 | [44] | |
| Jennifer Harman | (1964–) | Poker player; only woman to win two open events in the World Series of Poker. Had two separate kidney transplants. | [45] | ||
| Ken Howard | (1932–) | English artist who was president of the New English Art Club from 1998 to 2003. | 2000 | [46] | |
| Ivan Klasnić | (1980–) | Croatian international footballer. After kidney failure in late 2006, he underwent an unsuccessful transplant in January 2007, followed by a successful one from his father two months later. He returned to action with Werder Bremen in November, and played at Euro 2008, becoming the first kidney transplant patient to play in a major football finals. | March 13, 2007 | [47] [48] | |
| Jimmy Little | (1937–2012) | Australian country/rock artist. | February 2004 | 8 years | [49] |
| Jonah Lomu | (1975–2015) | New Zealand All Blacks rugby union player. The kidney was donated by Wellington radio presenter Grant Kereama. Lomu came back to professional rugby in 2005, though not with his past success. | July 28, 2004 | 11 years | [50] |
| George Lopez | (1961–) | Actor-comedian and star of the George Lopez TV series. Kidney transplant from his wife, Ann Lopez, in April 2005 | April 2005 | [51] | |
| Sarah Hyland | (1990–) | American actress. | April 13, 2012 | [52] | |
| Tracy Morgan | (1968–) | American actor and comedian. | December 2010 | [53] | |
| Alonzo Mourning | (1970–) | NBA basketball star. Like Elliott, Mourning returned to play in the NBA following his surgery; he retired in January 2009, not having played since 2007 due to a serious leg injury. | December 19, 2003 | [54] | |
| Kerry Packer | (1937–2005) | His long-serving helicopter pilot, Nick Ross, donated one of his own kidneys to Packer for transplantation. | 2000 | 5 years | [55] |
| Charles Perkins | (1936–2000) | Australian soccer player, Aboriginal activist and government minister. | 1972 | 28 years | [57] [58] |
| Billy Preston | (1946–2006) | An American soul musician from Houston, Texas, raised mostly in Los Angeles, California. | 2002 | 4 years | |
| Neil Simon | (1927–2018) | His long-time publicist, Bill Evans. | 2004 | 14 years | [56] |
| Ron Springs | (1956–2011) | Former NFL player. Kidney donated by former Dallas Cowboys teammate Everson Walls. | February 28, 2007 | See footnote [59] | |
| Tina Turner | (1939–2023) | Singer and Actress. Kidney donated by husband Erwin Bach. | 2014 | May 24, 2023 |
See also Category:Liver transplant recipients
| Name | Life | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Abidal | (1979–) | French footballer. | April 10, 2012 | [62] | |
| Gregg Allman | (1947–2017) | American musician best known as the leader of The Allman Brothers Band. | June 23, 2010 | 7 years | [63] |
| George Best | (1946–2005) | Northern Irish football player. | July 30, 2002 | 3 years | [64] |
| David Bird | (1959–2014) | American journalist; underwent transplant as a result of contracting hepatitis | 2004 | 10 years | [65] |
| Jack Bruce | (1943–2014) | British musician most famous as a member of the 1960s band Cream. Diagnosed with liver cancer several months before the transplant. | September 19, 2003 | 11 years | [66] |
| Robert P. Casey | (1932–2000) | 41st Governor of Pennsylvania. Received new liver during same operation in which he received a new heart. | 1993 | 6 years | |
| David Crosby | (1941–2023) | Rock-folk musician most famous as a member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, & Nash. | November 1994 | 28 years | [67] [68] [69] |
| Gerald Durrell | (1925–1995) | Founder of Jersey Zoo, author, television presenter, conservationist | 28 March 1994 | 9 months approx | [70] |
| Shelley Fabares | (1944–) | Actress and singer who starred on the sitcom Coach . | 2000 | [71] | |
| Freddy Fender | (1937–2006) | A country, and rock and roll musician. Diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2000. | 2004 | Approximately 2 years | [72] [73] [74] |
| Superstar Billy Graham | (1943–) | A former professional wrestler. Had a liver transplant after his was destroyed by hepatitis C, which he suspects was caught through blood spilt during a match. | 2002 | [72] [75] | |
| Larry Hagman | (1931–2012) | Actor, best known for playing J.R. Ewing on the soap opera Dallas | 1995 | 17 years | [76] |
| Steve Jobs | (1955–2011) | American businessman; cofounder and CEO of Apple Inc. and former CEO of Pixar. In 2004 he had a cancerous tumor removed from his pancreas. | April 2009 | 2 years | [77] |
| Chris Klug | (1972–) | Professional snowboarder who received a liver transplant to treat primary sclerosing cholangitis. Went on to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. This was the first, and so far only time, a transplantee had competed in the Olympics, either the Winter or Summer Olympics. | 2000 | [78] | |
| Evel Knievel | (1938–2007) | A stuntperson, best known for his public displays of long distance, high-altitude motorcycle jumping. He had a liver transplant as a result of hepatitis C, which he believed was contracted during an operation. | January 29, 1999 | Almost 9 years | [72] [79] [80] |
| Phil Lesh | (1940–) | A musician and a founder member of the band the Grateful Dead, in which he played bass guitar. He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1992. | 1998 | [72] [81] | |
| Linda Lovelace | (1949–2002) | A pornographic actress, most notable for the movie Deep Throat (1972). She contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion after an automobile accident in 1969. | 1987 | 15 years | [72] [82] |
| Mickey Mantle | (1931–1995) | Hall of Fame baseball player. Mantle died a couple of months later of liver cancer, which spread to his new liver. | 1995 | 2 months | [83] |
| Jim Nabors | (1930–2017) | Actor-singer-comedian, best known for playing Gomer Pyle in The Andy Griffith Show and its spinoff Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | 1994 | 23 years | [84] |
| John Phillips | (1935–2001) | Singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as founder and leader of The Mamas & the Papas. | 1992 | Approximately 9 years | [85] |
| Lou Reed | (1942–2013) | American rock musician and songwriter. | 2013 | 5 months | [86] [87] [88] [89] |
See also Category:Lung transplant recipients
| Name | Life | Comments | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandro | (1945–2010) | Argentine singer and actor. He died after complications of a heart–lung transplant. | November 20, 2009 | 45 days | [31] |
| Ann Harrison | (1944–2001) | Recipient and long term survivor of the world's first human double-lung transplant | November 26, 1986 | 15 years | [90] |
| Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick | (1983–2019) | American soprano. | September 2009 | 10 years | [91] |
| Name | Life | Comments | Organ(s) donated | Date of transplant | Survival | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zell Kravinsky | (1954–) | American Investor known for donating over $45 million of his personal wealth to charity. Donated kidney to a stranger. | Kidney | [92] | ||
| Dick Cass | (1946–) | President of the Baltimore Ravens football team, donated kidney to law school friend | Kidney | [93] | ||
| Jake Garn | (1932–) | U.S. Senator/Space Shuttle specialist, donated a kidney to his daughter | Kidney | September 1986 | [94] | |
| Nicholas Green | (1987–1994) | American boy who was killed in Italy. His parents chose to donate his organs. | Various | October 1994 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [95] |
| Jon-Erik Hexum | (1957–1984) | American model and actor. | Heart, kidneys and corneas | October 1984 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [96] |
| Virginia Postrel | (1960–) | Donated kidney to her friend Sally Satel | Kidney | March 2006 | [97] [98] | |
| Dr. Rajkumar | (1929–2006) | Popular Indian film personality who donated his eyes after death and inspired thousands others to pledge their eyes. | Eyes | April 2006 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [99] |
| Oscar Robertson | (1938–) | Basketball Hall of Famer. Donated kidney to his daughter Tia. | Kidney | 1997 | [100] | |
| Neda Soltan | (1983–2009) | Iranian martyr, a bystander at a political protest, her death was recorded by cell phone cameras. | Various | Circa June 20, 2009 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [101] |
| Angélico Vieira | (1982–2011) | Portuguese actor and singer. | Pancreas, liver and kidneys | Circa June 2011 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [102] |
| Everson Walls | (1959–) | Former NFL player, donated kidney to former Dallas Cowboys teammate Ron Springs. | Kidney | February 28, 2007 | [60] | |
| Olle Westling | (1945–) | Swedish socionom and municipal civil servant, donated kidney to his son Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. | Kidney | May 27, 2009 | [38] | |
| Justin Wilson | (1978–2015) | British racing driver. | Various | Circa August 2015 | N/A; organs donated upon death | [103] |
Organ donation is the process when a person authorizes an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive, through a legal authorization for deceased donation made prior to death, or for deceased donations through the authorization by the legal next of kin.
Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transported from a donor site to another location. Organs and/or tissues that are transplanted within the same person's body are called autografts. Transplants that are recently performed between two subjects of the same species are called allografts. Allografts can either be from a living or cadaveric source.
Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, although availability of donor organs is a major limitation. The most common technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which the native liver is removed and replaced by the donor organ in the same anatomic position as the original liver. The surgical procedure is complex, requiring careful harvest of the donor organ and meticulous implantation into the recipient. Liver transplantation is highly regulated, and only performed at designated transplant medical centers by highly trained transplant physicians and supporting medical team. Favorable outcomes require careful screening for eligible recipients, as well as a well-calibrated live or deceased donor match.
Xenotransplantation, or heterologous transplant, is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called xenografts or xenotransplants. It is contrasted with allotransplantation, syngeneic transplantation or isotransplantation and autotransplantation. Xenotransplantation is an artificial method of creating an animal-human chimera, that is, a human with a subset of animal cells. In contrast, an individual where each cell contains genetic material from a human and an animal is called a human–animal hybrid.
Hand transplantation, or simply a hand transplant, is a surgical procedure to transplant a hand from one human to another. The donor hand, usually from a brain-dead donor, is transplanted to a recipient amputee. Most hand transplants to date have been performed on below-elbow amputees, although above-elbow transplants are gaining popularity. Hand transplants were the first of a new category of transplants where multiple organs are transplanted as a single functional unit, now termed vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA).
Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the donor organ. Living-donor kidney transplants are further characterized as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient. The first successful kidney transplant was performed in 1954 by a team including Joseph Murray, the recipient's surgeon, and Hartwell Harrison, surgeon for the donor. Murray was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1990 for this and other work. In 2018, an estimated 95,479 kidney transplants were performed worldwide, 36% of which came from living donors.
Thomas Earl Starzl was an American physician, researcher, and expert on organ transplants. He performed the first human liver transplants, and has often been referred to as "the father of modern transplantation." A documentary, entitled "Burden of Genius," covering the medical and scientific advances spearheaded by Starzl himself, was released to the public in 2017 in a series of screenings. Dr. Starzl also penned his autobiography, "The Puzzle People: Memoirs Of A Transplant Surgeon," which was published in 1992.
Murder for body parts also known as medicine murder refers to the killing of a human being in order to excise body parts to use as medicine or purposes in witchcraft. Medicine murder is viewed as the obtaining of an item or items from a corpse to be used in traditional medicine. The practice occurs primarily in sub-equatorial Africa.
Sir Roy Yorke Calne was a British surgeon and pioneer in organ transplantation. He was part of the team that performed the first liver transplantation operation in Europe in 1968, the world's first liver, heart and lung transplantation in 1987, the first intestinal transplant in the UK in 1992 and the first successful combined stomach, intestine, pancreas, liver and kidney cluster transplantation in 1994.
Organ transplantation in China has taken place since the 1960s, and is one of the largest organ transplant programmes in the world, peaking at over 13,000 liver and kidney transplants a year in 2004.
Organ procurement is a surgical procedure that removes organs or tissues for reuse, typically for organ transplantation.
Organ trade is the trading of human organs, tissues, or other body products, usually for transplantation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), organ trade is a commercial transplantation where there is a profit, or transplantations that occur outside of national medical systems. There is a global need or demand for healthy body parts for transplantation, which exceeds the numbers available.
Dr. Mahendra Bhandari is an Indian surgeon who has made substantial contributions to the specialty of urology, medical training, hospital administration, robotic surgery and medical ethics. For his efforts, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the government of India in 2000. Bhandari is currently Senior Bio-scientist and Director of Robotic Surgery Research & Education at the Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI) in Detroit, MI. He was the Symposium coordinator of the International Robotic Urology Symposium. He also has been the CEO of the Vattikuti Foundation since 2010.
The Kilgour–Matas report is a 2006/2007 investigative report into allegations of live organ harvesting in China conducted by Canadian MP David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas. The report was requested by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) after allegations emerged that Falun Gong practitioners were secretly having their organs removed against their will at Sujiatun Thrombosis Hospital. The report, based on circumstantial evidence, concluded that "there has been, and continues today to be, large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners." China has consistently denied the allegations.
Organ theft is the act of taking a person's organs for transplantation or sale on the black market, without their explicit consent through means of being an organ donor or other forms of consent. Most cases of organ theft involve coercion, occurrences in wartime, or thefts within hospital settings. Organ theft is a commonly used trope in speculative fiction.
The practice of selling one's kidney for profit in Iran is legal and regulated by the government. In any given year, it is estimated that 1400 Iranians sell one of their kidneys to a recipient who was previously unknown to them. Iran currently is the only country in the world that allows the sale of one's kidney for compensation ; consequently, the country does not have either a waiting list or a shortage of available organs.
ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplantation is a method of allocation in organ transplantation that permits more efficient use of available organs regardless of ABO blood type, which would otherwise be unavailable due to hyperacute rejection. Primarily in use in infants and young toddlers, research is ongoing to allow for increased use of this capability in adult transplants. Normal ABO-compatibility rules may be observed for all recipients. This means that anyone may receive a transplant of a type-O organ, and consequently, type-O recipients are one of the biggest beneficiaries of ABO-incompatible transplants. While focus has been on infant heart transplants, the principles generally apply to other forms of solid organ transplantation.
Allegations of forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other political prisoners in China have raised concern within the international community. According to a report by former lawmaker David Kilgour, human rights lawyer David Matas and journalist Ethan Gutmann of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, political prisoners, mainly Falun Gong practitioners, are being executed "on demand" in order to provide organs for transplant to recipients. Reports have said that organ harvesting has been used to advance the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong and because of the financial incentives available to the institutions and individuals involved in the trade. A report by The Washington Post has disputed some of the allegations, saying that China does not import sufficient quantities of immunosuppressant drugs, used by transplant recipients, to carry out such quantities of organ harvesting.
Dorry L. Segev is the Marjory K. and Thomas Pozefsky Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and associate vice chair of the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has made significant contributions to the field of transplantation, including developing a mathematical model to facilitate a nationwide kidney paired donation program, both in the US and Canada. He is also known for his role in getting the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act signed into law.
Organ donation in India is regulated by the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994. The law allows both deceased and living donors to donate their organs. It also identifies brain death as a form of death. The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) functions as the apex body for activities of relating to procurement, allotment and distribution of organs in the country.