Your Rights After Contracting a Disease from an Organ Transplant
Receiving an organ transplant is often the only hope for patients with end-stage organ failure. It is a procedure built on trust: the recipient trusts the surgeon to perform the operation and, crucially, trusts the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) to ensure the donor organ is safe.
While organ rejection is a known biological risk of transplantation, contracting a disease—such as metastatic cancer, HIV, or Hepatitis—from a donor organ is often a preventable tragedy caused by negligence.
If you or a loved one developed a serious condition shortly after a transplant, you may have legal claims against the OPO responsible for screening the donor.
The Legal Duty: Why OPOs Are Responsible
Unlike the transplant surgeons who implant the organ, the OPO is responsible for the “supply chain.” Under federal regulations (including 42 CFR § 486.326), OPOs must employ qualified coordinators and medical directors to evaluate potential donors.
They are the “gatekeepers” of the organ supply. Their duty of care involves specific, non-negotiable protocols outlined by the Public Health Service (PHS) and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). These duties include:
- Comprehensive Medical History Review: OPOs must interview the donor’s next of kin and review medical records to identify high-risk behaviors (such as recent intravenous drug use or incarceration) or a history of malignancy.
- Physical Examination: OPO staff must physically inspect the donor’s body for signs of undisclosed disease, such as needle tracks, lymphadenopathy (swollen nodes), or suspicious skin lesions suggestive of melanoma.
- Advanced Laboratory Testing: OPOs must utilize Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) to detect the genetic material of viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. This testing significantly reduces the “window period” where an infection might otherwise be missed.
- Radiological Review Where Indicated: For solid tumors, OPOs are expected to review CT scans and other imaging when clinically indicated to ensure the donor is free of cancer that could spread to the recipient.
How Negligence Occurs
Despite these clear standards, the pressure to increase “organ yield” can lead to dangerous shortcuts. In recent years, OPOs have been aggressively pushed by regulatory metrics to procure more organs. While the goal of saving lives is noble, a high-pressure procurement environment can lead to:
- Rushed Imaging Reviews: In the haste to clear a donor for surgery, OPO staff or contracted radiologists may miss a visible mass on a CT scan. If a kidney with a small renal cell carcinoma is transplanted, that cancer can metastasize rapidly in the immunosuppressed recipient.
- “High-Risk” Oversight: OPO coordinators may fail to ask probing questions about the donor’s social history or ignore contradictions in the medical record. If a donor had a recent history of high-risk behavior that was overlooked, and the recipient contracts HIV or Hepatitis, the OPO may be liable for failing to classify the donor as “increased risk” under PHS guidelines.
- Failure to Biopsy: When a surgeon or coordinator spots a suspicious lesion during recovery, the standard of care often requires a biopsy. If the OPO proceeds with transplantation without waiting for pathology results, they are gambling with the recipient’s life.
The Consequences: Donor-Derived Malignancy
One of the most devastating outcomes of OPO negligence is donor-derived malignancy. When transplant recipients are placed on powerful immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection, their immune systems cannot fight off cancer cells introduced by the donor organ.
A small, undiagnosed tumor in a donor kidney or liver can develop into widespread metastatic cancer in the recipient within weeks or months. This condition is often fatal and deeply distressing. If the cancer in the donor was detectable—meaning it was visible on a scan or obvious during physical exam—the OPO’s failure to identify it can constitute medical negligence.
Establishing Liability and Damages
Proving these cases requires a forensic approach to the donor’s medical records. At Traction Law Group, we work with independent pathologists and radiologists to re-examine the evidence the OPO had at the time of death.
- Causation: In appropriate cases, molecular testing (such as DNA typing) can be used to show that the cancer or infection in the recipient is genetically identical to the donor’s tissue, establishing a direct link.
- Damages: Victims of negligent screening can pursue damages for the extraordinary medical costs of treating the new disease, the pain and suffering associated with a second life-threatening diagnosis, and, in tragic cases, wrongful death.
Why You Need a Organ Transplant Attorney
These cases are legally distinct from standard medical malpractice. They involve federal preemption issues, complex contracts between OPOs and transplant centers, and the specific “conditions for coverage” mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
If you suspect your transplant complication was caused by a diseased organ, do not accept it as “bad luck.” Contact Traction Law Group at 833-236-8253 for a thorough investigation into the source of the organ and the screening process used to approve it.
