California rushes to allow HIV-positive organ transplants - to save the life of a man in desperate need of a liver

Lawmakers in California have approved emergency legislation today, to allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver.

The decision was taken to allow the transplant to go ahead before the surgery becomes too dangerous - a point which could be reached in the next few weeks.

The federal government recently authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs to patients who have the disease, but it is still illegal under California law and in more than a dozen other states.

State senator Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, urges passage of his emergency legislation that would allow a man with HIV to receive part of his HIV-positive husband's liver, before the surgery becomes too dangerous

Democratic governor, Jerry Brown's office said he would sign the bill promptly after the state Assembly and Senate passed it.

The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center is one of four US hospitals authorized to transplant HIV-infected organs. 

Transplant surgeon Dr Peter Stock says he hopes to perform the operation quickly, but he will need time to do tests and preparation on the patients.

There are 65 HIV-positive patients waiting for kidney or liver transplants at the hospital, including another man in particularly urgent need of a liver. 

That man does not have a living donor.

California has some of the nation's longest waits for organs, and increasing the supply will help everyone, whether they are HIV-positive or not, Dr Stock said.

'There are so many desperate people out there waiting for organs,' the surgeon said.

'The donor shortage is such a problem. Literally, we lose people every week.'

California's ban on donating HIV-infected organs, blood and semen is a product of fear over the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and '90s.

The federal government recently authorized transplants of HIV-infected organs to patients who have the disease, but it is still illegal under California law and in more than a dozen other states

Recent advances in testing and treatment for HIV and AIDS is now allowing patients to live far longer.

Doctors have been transplanting healthy organs into patients with HIV for years, with mostly similar rates of success to transplants for non-HIV patients.

'With this legislation, we're saving a life this month, and many more to come,' said senator Ben Allen, a Democrat from Santa Monica who wrote the bill. 

The first HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant took place at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in March.

It marked a change in the law that is hoped to give thousands of HIV-positive patients in need of transplants, a new chance at life.

In February the hospital was given the green to become the first center in the country to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive transplants.

Surgeons at the hospital also became the first in the US to execute a HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant, using an organ from the same donor.

At the time, Professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dorry Segev, said today: 'Both operations went great, and both patients are doing very well.'

The announcement brought to fruition a two-year effort on the part of Dr Segev, to help draft and push through the 2013 HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE).

The bill, signed by President Obama made it possible for HIV-positive individuals to donate organs.

Major advances in the treatment of HIV and AIDS mean that people diagnosed with the virus are living longer.

As a result, a growing number of HIV-positive people are developing medical conditions that result in their needing an organ transplant.

Approximately 122,000 people are on the US transplant waiting list at any one time.

Thousands die each year, many of whom may have lived had they received the organ they so desperately needed.

In March, surgeons at Johns Hopkins University (pictured) performed the first ever HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant and the first HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant in the US

The antiquated law, which the HOPE Act reversed, prevented doctors from using organs from HIV-positive donors, even if they were intended to be given to an HIV-positive patient desperately in need of the organ.

Speaking at the time of passing the HOPE Act, President Obama, said: 'For decades, these organ transplants have been illegal.

'It was even illegal to study whether they could be safe and effective. But that policy has become outdated.

'Our country has come a long way in our understanding of HIV and in developing effective treatments.

'And as our knowledge has grown, the possibility of successful organ transplants between HIV-positive people has become more real.

'The HOPE Act lifts the research ban. In time, it could lead to these organ donations for people living with HIV.

'And that, in turn, would help save and improve lives and strengthen the national supply of organs for all who need them.'

Despite very positive outcomes in non-HIV transplants in HIV-positive recipients and proven results of HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplants in South Africa, HIV-positive to HIV-positive transplant in the United States was not a possibility until now.

Analysis of cases in South Africa have shown an estimated five-year patient survival rate following kidney transplant of around 74 per cent.