UPMC doctor and nurse disciplined for transplanting kidney with hepatitis C

Officials at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have taken disciplinary action against two… Officials at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have taken disciplinary action against two members of their living donor kidney transplant program, after a patient received a kidney infected with hepatitis C last month.

Jennifer Yates, a UPMC spokesperson, confirmed that UPMC demoted a doctor and suspended a nurse due to the kidney incident. They are not releasing the names of the two individuals.

The live-donor kidney program, which was voluntarily suspended on May 12, remains closed. UPMC, The State Department of Health and the United Network for Organ Sharing are still investigating the incident.

UPMC shut the program down after a recipient received a kidney infected with hepatitis C. UPMC has performed over 600 live-donor kidney donations since that form of kidney donation was made available to the hospital in 2002, according to the UPMC website.

Sue Simon, the President of the Hepatitis C Association, said last week that hepatitis C is the most dangerous form of hepatitis. It becomes chronic 70 percent of the time and is most commonly transmitted through contaminated needles.

The thorough screening process for infectious diseases from donors, which is outlined on the UPMC website, makes the situation at the hospital a very rare one. The website explicitly mentions that the medical center screens for HIV and hepatitis.

Yates said she could not give a time table for when the donor program will resume, only that they hope it will resume “in the near term.”

Brandi Hunter-Davenport, the deputy press secretary at the State Department of Health, said that the State Department of Health is still investigating and is unable to release any more information until the investigation is complete.