NEW YORK (AP) — Some patients in desperate need of a kidney transplant participated in a bold experiment where they received organs infected with hepatitis C. The gamble paid off.
Hepatitis C is an infection that can quietly destroy someone’s liver if untreated. Transplanting other organs from patients with the virus can infect the recipients. But with powerful new drugs now available that promise to cure them, Reese’s team decided to test if it’s safe to transplant infected kidneys to people who don’t already have the virus —but who might not survive the wait for a healthy organ.
He now feels energetic, and can work out in the gym and attend family events. So far, there’s no sign of the virus in his bloodstream.
“As long as the patient accepts the risk, I support this,” said Dr. Josh Levitsky, a professor of organ transplantation at Northwestern University who is not part of the team.
Most insurance companies still don’t cover the drug for transplant patients, Reese said.
In 2016, Johns Hopkins University launched a similar experiment with 10 people. All of them are now cured. Researchers in the United Kingdom are already discussing the possibility to use organs with hepatitis C in patients who don’t have the virus.