Two transplant patients get rare form of cancer from kidney donor

[Beaaware]

Robert Law 59 & Gillian Smart 46 were given cancer ridden kidneys from a donor last Novmeber, it was discovered at post -mortem that the donor had a rare form of cancer.
This is a terrible story but not disimilar to the human form of mad cow's disease (vCJD). Unless we have blood screening tests in place any donated organs could potentially be infected, with vCJD there is no test at autopsy.
My heart goes out to these poor people, how could the hospital miss this.

What's the answer then? Complete halt on transplants until we have total screening for all diseases no matter how remote or, like VCJD, extremely rare?

We all die at some point. Cancer is hideous, but so is kidney failure.

It would not have been obvious that the kidneys had cancer otherwise they would not have been transplanted.

These two people still recieved the gift of life from the donor and the donor's family, even if that gift of life was short. Surely an extra few months of life is better than nothing. Many people die on the transplant waiting list.

People on the transplant waiting list are critically ill, and many people would be prepared to take their chances.

Chil1234, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of people who after their operations may have been exposed to vCJD via the surgical instruments that were used, this is because a previous patient has either gone onto to develop vCJD or died from it and as a result the instruments used on them will have remained infective. If we were to decontaminate all stainless steel surgical instruments (which we could but don't) to remove the rogue prions which stick to stainless steel then obviously there would be no problem. Why we choose not to decontaminate stainless steel surgical instruments for rogue prions is beyond me, it is bad enough that they are not screening blood or organ donors, again they have the tests but they are not used. The fact of the matter is that joe bloggs has no choice when he/she goes into hospital, you need an operation why would you think of vCJD. Perhaps joe bloggs should be asking more questions to the medical staff, for instance patients leaflets with information about vCJD, or has the organ donor been tested for vCJD, there is a very real possibility that vCJD can be transmitted via blood the same as there is every possibilty that HIV and Hep C can be transmitted via blood. I also find it very alarming that we do not look for vCJD at autopsy so therefore if a person who has died from vCJD and been mis-diagnosed (which they frequently are) and donated their organs surely this is another grey area for the organ recipient?

Beaware, you seem to have a bugbear about cCJD and prions.
My understanding of this case was the cancer was extremely difficult to diagnose and would only be apparent at post mortem.
Organs are transplanted quickly so they don't deteriorate. If I were on a list to receive a new organ, I would be aware of the potential risks.
At least the recipients are aware and can have either chemo or radiotherapy to treat the cancer.

vCJD can only be detected post mortem, and as I understand it, the testing takes some time. This would lead to unviable organs. No procedure can be completely risk free, if the choice is death or a tiny possibility of contracting a very rare disease, each individual must weigh up which choice is better for them.

I think if I had to choose between maybe dying of cancer and definitely dying of kidney disease I would roll my dice and hope for the best.

I have no bugbear about vCJD & prions kreecherlivesupstairs, but what I do wish is that our DOH would implement blood screening tests for all organ & blood donors for this manmade disease, they have the technology, the tests are available to scientists, but the DOH continue to expose innocent people to something that they may develop in 10 - 20 years time, but as with most people you will only be concerned if it affects you.

GeraldineAubergine, a simple vCJD blood test on the organ donor would be the answer before a post-mortem, why is'nt this happening?