Woman dies following transplant of smoker’s lungs

12/19/2012 // West Palm Beach , Florida, US // JusticeNewsFlash // Justice News Flash // (press release)

London – A 27-year-old cystic fibrosis patient died following an organ transplant in which she received the lungs of a heavy smoker. As reported by Good Morning America, the woman, Jennifer Wederell, died less than 16 months after the procedure after a malignant mass had been found in her lungs.

A number of hospitals reportedly accept less than perfect organs from donors. Dr. G. Alexander Patterson, surgical director of lung transplants at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish transplant center in St. Louis, is quoted in the report as stating of the reason, “This is a necessity because there are far fewer donors than there are recipients and most patients who are on a waiting list would gladly accept a set of smoker’s lungs in exchange for the ones they have, which usually have little chance of carrying them through to long-term survival.”

Harefield Hospital in London has reportedly apologized to Wederell’s family for the smoking history of the donor not having been fully disclosed prior.

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