Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Organ Transplants Between HIV-Positive Patients Now Legal In California
Los Angeles Times: With Transplant Patients Waiting, Lawmakers Fast-Track Bill Allowing Organ Donations By HIV-Positive People
With a seriously ill patient waiting for a new liver, the Legislature took the extraordinary action Friday of having both houses — within an hour — approve a bill that would allow HIV-positive people to donate organs to others who are HIV-positive. Gov. Jerry Brown later Friday signed the bill, which becomes effective immediately. "This is a life-saving matter that aligns California with federal law," said Deborah Hoffman, a spokeswoman for Brown. (McGreevy, 5/27)
The Associated Press: California Rushes To Allow HIV-Infected Organ Transplants
California lawmakers approved emergency legislation Friday to allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver before the surgery becomes too dangerous, possibly within weeks. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown promptly signed the bill, which takes effect immediately. The federal government recently authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs to patients who have the disease, but it remained illegal under California law and in more than a dozen other states, a leftover fear from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. (Cooper, 5/27)
The Sacramento Bee: California To Allow Transplants Between HIV-Infected People
A San Francisco surgeon seeking to perform a liver transplant between two patients infected with HIV will be able to proceed after legislators this week rushed through changes to state law. (Koseff, 5/27)
The San Francisco Chronicle: Legislature OKs Bill To Allow Transplants From Donors With HIV
California could have its first life-saving organ transplant from an HIV-positive donor to an HIV-positive patient within a month, a San Francisco surgeon said Friday, shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill repealing a previous ban on the procedure. (Gutierrez, 5/27)
