IL OKs HIV-infected Organ Donation

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Jul 19, 2004 11:38AM

Gov. Blagojevich signed a bill that will allow HIV-positive people to donate organs to others with the virus. Illinois is the first state to allow this but in order for anyone to actually do it federal rules have to change.

The current procedure is to throw away all organs from HIV-infected patients to prevent them from being transplanted into uninfected patients and spread the AIDs virus. Contracting HIV used to be like getting a death sentence, but advances in medicine have allowed many people to live a long time with the disease. This new bill would save the lives of HIV-positive people who are awaiting transplants and are currently barred, like everyone else, from receiving donations from those with HIV.

Many people think that IL signing this bill will trigger other states to follow suit and may even influence a national shift in rules. But federal authorities say that any move to allow HIV-positive organ donors would violate the National Organ Transplant Act and they worry that there are not enough controls to prevent infected organs from accidentally being given to someone who does not have HIV.