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☆ Pennsylvania Hospital Suspends Its Liver Transplant Program
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Brian M. Rosenthal | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A major Pennsylvania hospital shut down its liver transplant program last week, becoming the second medical center this month to take such an unusual step. The hospital, the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said Monday that it had closed the program and submitted to a review from federal officials. “The decision to inactivate comes after concerns about clinical processes and documentation were identified,” the hospital said in a statement. Hospital officials would not comment about those accusations. The Hershey closure comes just weeks after Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston suspended its liver and kidney transplant programs.

Persons: Penn State Health Milton, inactivate, Hershey Organizations: Penn State Health, Hershey Medical Center, New York Times, Hermann, Texas Medical Center, Times Locations: Pennsylvania, Houston

☆ Texas Surgeon Is Accused of Secretly Denying Liver Transplants
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-11 | by ( Brian M. Rosenthal | Jessica Silver-Greenberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For decades, Dr. J. Steve Bynon Jr., a transplant surgeon in Texas, gained accolades and national prominence for his work, including by helping to enforce professional standards in the country’s sprawling organ transplant system. But officials are now investigating allegations that Dr. Bynon was secretly manipulating a government database to make some of his own patients ineligible to receive new livers, potentially depriving them of lifesaving care. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, where Dr. Bynon oversaw both the liver and kidney transplant programs, abruptly shut down those programs in the past week while looking into the allegations. On Thursday, the medical center, a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Texas, said in a statement that it had found evidence that a doctor in its liver transplant program had effectively denied patients transplants by changing records. Officials identified the physician as Dr. Bynon, who is employed by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and has had a contract to lead Memorial Hermann’s abdominal transplant program since 2011.

Persons: J, Steve Bynon Jr, Bynon, Hermann Organizations: Texas Medical Center, University of Texas, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston Locations: Texas, Houston

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada jury has awarded about $130 million in damages in a lawsuit filed by five people who suffered liver damage after drinking bottled water marketed by a Las Vegas-based company before the product was recalled from store shelves in 2021. Real Water attorney Joel Odou argued that the company was unintentionally negligent, not reckless, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the region's main public supplier, monitors and tests for 166 different possible contaminants, spokesman Bronson Mack said Thursday. Mack noted that the water authority was not a defendant in the lawsuits and said the area's municipal water supply meets or surpasses all federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. Real Water was sold for at least eight years, primarily in Central and Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Utah.

Persons: Myles Hunwardsen, Henderson, ” Will Kemp, Kemp, Affinitylifestyles.com, Brent Jones, Jones, Herbst, Joel Odou, Bronson Mack, Mack Organizations: LAS VEGAS, AffinityLifestyles.com Inc, Republican, Telephone, Foods, Costco Wholesale, Hanna Instruments, Milwaukee Instruments, Water, Las Vegas, Las, The Southern, The Southern Nevada Water Authority, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Clark County Health District Locations: Nevada, Las Vegas, Clark County, Lake, Hoover, Colorado, The, The Southern Nevada, Central, Southern California, Phoenix and Utah, U.S

Surgeons externally attached a pig liver to a brain-dead human body and watched it successfully filter blood, a step toward eventually trying the technique in patients with liver failure. Now scientists are trying again with pigs whose organs have been genetically modified to be more humanlike. In recent years, kidneys from genetically modified pigs have been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors to see how well they function, and two men received heart transplants from pigs although both died within months. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesSome researchers also are looking to use pig livers. In a statement, the Penn team reported that the donor’s body remained stable and the pig liver showed no signs of damage.

Persons: Penn, eGenesis —, Parsia, wasn't, “, ” Vagefi Organizations: University of Pennsylvania, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Machines, Penn, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: U.S

☆ Congress Must Act to Eliminate Hepatitis C - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Francis Collins | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A little over a decade ago, I watched my brother in-law Rick Boterf die of complications from infection with the hepatitis C virus that took his health, his vibrant energy and ultimately his life. But then he experienced the slow onset of signs of liver failure, followed by an excruciating five years on the liver transplant list. Ultimately, Rick died in his sleep, a heartbreaking ending for a fine man who had suffered terribly at the hands of this destructive virus. It was only two years later, in October 2014, that medical science provided a cure for hepatitis C infection. And to a significant extent, that hope was justified: These medications have cured about a million people in the United States.

Persons: Rick Boterf, Rick Organizations: National Institutes of Health Locations: Florida, United States

☆ Australian woman arrested in suspected death cap mushroom poisoning
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Australian police have arrested a woman who served a lunch in late July that led to the deaths of three people from suspected death cap mushroom poisoning. Victoria Police confirmed a 49-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the case. CNN affiliate Nine News said Patterson was arrested at her home in the town of Leongatha in southern Victoria. In the same statement she claimed she bought the mushrooms used in the meal from two separate stores. Following the arrest, the woman will be interviewed and the investigation remains ongoing, police said.

Persons: Erin Patterson, Patterson, Dean Thomas, “, it’s, Gail Patterson, Gail’s, Heather Wilkinson, Don, Ian Wilkinson, ” Patterson, Patterson’s, Thomas, Simon, ” Thomas Organizations: CNN, Australian, Victoria Police, ABC, Nine, Gibson, Australian Federal Police Locations: Leongatha, Victoria, Melbourne’s

☆ Lone survivor of suspected mushroom poisoning released from Australian hospital
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The sole survivor of a poisoning involving suspected death cap mushrooms that killed three others in Australia has been released from hospital following a remarkable recovery that could now help police piece together what happened. Within days, Gail Patterson, 70, and her sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, died in hospital, followed by Gail’s 70-year-old husband, Don, a day later. Watkins clung on, critically ill and reportedly in need of a liver transplant but made enough of a recovery to leave Melbourne’s Austin hospital last Friday. In the same statement she claimed she bought the mushrooms used in the meal from two separate stores. As Ian continues his journey towards full recovery, the Wilkinson family kindly requests that their privacy be respected,” the statement said.

Persons: Ian Watkins, Erin Patterson, Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson, Gail’s, Don, Watkins, “, Ian Wilkinson, Ian, Wilkinson, ” Patterson, Dean Thomas, Patterson, Patterson’s, Thomas, Simon, ” Thomas, Wilkinson –, –, ” Organizations: CNN, Victoria Police, ABC, Korumburra Baptist Locations: Australia, Leongatha, Melbourne’s Austin

☆ Two research teams detail advancements in transplanting pig kidneys to humans, marking key steps on path to clinical trials
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —New advancements in transplanting pig kidneys to humans, detailed by two separate research teams on Wednesday, mark key steps forward in the evolving field of xenotransplantation, the use of non-human tissues or organs to treat medical conditions in humans. Both research teams used genetically modified pig kidneys that were transplanted into recipients experiencing brain death in what is considered pre-clinical human research. Other studies have demonstrated that this can occur when pig kidneys are transplanted in non-human primates. The team has been monitoring pig kidney transplants in a brain-dead decedent – a man named Maurice Miller, known as Mo, who died of a brain tumor – for nearly two months. “Over the last 20 years, we’ve gained a lot of information about how pig kidneys work to replace the functions in primates.

Persons: ”, Jayme Locke, Locke, ” Locke, NYU Langone, Maurice Miller, Mo, Robert Montgomery, Dr, Sanjay Gupta, “ We’re, Adam Griesemer, we’ve, ’ –, we’re Organizations: CNN, University of Alabama, Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, New York University, Health, Comprehensive Transplant Institute, ”, UAB, NYU, NYU Langone Transplant Institute, CNN Health, Liver Transplant, FDA, US Department of Health, Human, Transplantation Network

☆ Australia mushroom poisoning: Four relatives came to lunch, three died with symptoms of 'death cap' poisoning
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —A meal of suspected death cap mushrooms served at a family lunch in late July is at the center of a homicide investigation in Australia following the deaths of three guests less than a week later. Victoria Health issued a warning about death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) in April, describing them as “extremely poisonous” and listing symptoms of consumption including violent stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Native to Europe, death cap mushrooms were first confirmed in Australia in the 1960s, and they almost always grow near introduced trees, namely oaks, according to Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Toxins in death cap mushrooms cannot be destroyed by boiling, cooking, freezing, or drying and eating only a small portion can lead to death. “Obviously a lot of the items that we have seized will be forensically tested in the hope that can shed some light on what has occurred at the lunch,” Thomas said.

Persons: Erin Patterson, Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson, Gail’s, Don, Ian, “ I’m, Ian Wilkinson, Heather, Dean Thomas, Patterson, Simon, “, ” Thomas, Patterson’s, Thomas, It’s, Dean Thomas of, haven’t, ” Organizations: Australia CNN, Victoria Police, Salvation Army Australia Museum, Facebook, Victoria Health, Royal Botanic Gardens, Victoria Police Police Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Leongatha, Victoria, Korumburra, Europe, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, paddocks

☆ Superstar Billy Graham, Model of the Buff, Blond Wrestler, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Richard Sandomir | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Superstar Billy Graham, a professional wrestler whose extravagant presence — 22-inch biceps, dyed blond hair, feather boas, tie-dyed tights and an outrageous gift of gab — influenced the style of future stars like Hulk Hogan and Jesse Ventura, died on Wednesday in Phoenix. The cause was sepsis and multiple organ failure, said Keith Elliot Greenberg, who collaborated with Graham on his autobiography. Graham’s longtime use of steroids had weakened his bones, requiring at least six hip replacements, and made him sterile. He also received a liver transplant in 2002 after contracting hepatitis C.“If you look at those that came after him, more people have patterned themselves after Superstar Billy Graham and become a success in this business than probably anybody,” Triple H, the superstar wrestler whose birth name is Paul Levesque, said at Graham’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. “And when it comes to bodies, there was nobody, and I mean nobody, that could touch the Superstar.”Graham, who was born Eldridge Wayne Coleman, had been an evangelist, a bodybuilder who bench pressed as much as 605 pounds, a defensive end in the Canadian Football League, a debt collector and a bouncer before turning to wrestling in 1970.

☆ World Transplant Games: The unexpected journeys of four athletes to one of the biggest competitions you've probably never heard of
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Eryn Mathewson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

British supporters gesture during the opening ceremony of the XXI World Transplant Games 2017 in Malaga, Spain on June 25, 2017. Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat are the World Transplant Games? The World Transplant Games is not a household name like the Special Olympics or the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The Road Race starts at the 2019 World Transplant Games in Newcastle-Gateshead, United Kingdom. Price is currently recovering from a non-transplant related surgery, but said she’s ready to make her second appearance at the World Transplant Games.

☆ Drug developer 89Bio soars as NASH drug succeeds in mid-stage study
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 22 (Reuters) - Drug developer 89Bio Inc <ETNB.O> said on Wednesday its experimental treatment for liver disease NASH met the main goals of a small mid-stage study, sending its shares 30% higher. The drug, pegozafermin, helped reduce liver scarring known as fibrosis as measured on two different scales in patients with NASH, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, trial data showed. 89Bio said the drug, administered both weekly and every two weeks in the trial, had a safety profile similar to older trials. In the trial, the drug helped significantly reduce fibrosis or liver scarring without the worsening of NASH, compared to a placebo. NASH, a form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, is characterized by the organ developing fibrosis or scarring, which can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure.

Austin Johnson in August 2019 when his eyes and skin had turned yellow from liver disease caused by years of heavy drinking. Courtesy Austin JohnsonCirrhosis or severe liver disease used to be something that mostly struck people in middle age, or older. “We’re definitely seeing younger and younger patients coming in with what we previously thought was advanced liver disease seen in patients only in their middle age, 50s and 60s,” said Mellinger. Since 2018, Mellinger, and doctors at the Michigan Alcohol Improvement program provide psychiatrists and addiction specialists to patients with liver disease. The yellow color in his skin and eyes — a symptom of severe liver disease — has disappeared.

☆ A woman who planned to donate part of her liver to get her son a job has been fined $2,300, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Korean woman who planned to donate part of her liver in exchange for a job for her son was fined. She had been tipped off in February that the chairman of a construction company was seriously ill and required a liver transplant. Ms K reportedly agreed to donate part of her liver in exchange for 100 million won ($77,000) and a job for her son, per The Hankyoreh. The Hankyoreh reported that Ms K asked the judge for clemency on the basis that she didn't know she was breaking the law. I also got greedy because they promised to give me money," Ms K reportedly said during the trial, per The Hankyoreh.

☆ A tiny biotech's experimental treatment for a silent disease that strikes millions just cleared a key hurdle and the stock is up more than 200%
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals reported positive results in its phase 3 trial for a drug to treat NASH. NASH is a serious liver condition that does not have an FDA-approved treatment. Many people don't even know they have it, which is why some people call it a "silent" disease. In a trial of more than 950 patients, 26% of patients taking 80mg and 30% of patients taking 100mg of the drug showed that NASH activity like swelling had been reduced. Pharma hasn't found a way to treat NASH yetThe pharma industry has been watching NASH for a while.

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