Clinical Trials To Test Transplants Using Hepatitis C-Infected Kidneys

Published March 23, 2016 at 1:52 PM EDT

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Dr. Dorry Segev performs arthroscopic surgery during a kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital June 26, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. The US Supreme Court is expected to announce their decision on the US President Barack Obama's healthcare law on June 28. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

People waiting for kidney transplants may soon have a new option: getting a kidney from a donor who had Hepatitis C.

This spring, doctors at the University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins University will try transplanting kidneys from Hep C-infected donors into uninfected patients. If these transplants are successful, they could open the door for hundreds more people a year to receive transplants, some of whom might otherwise die waiting.

Here & Now’s Robin Young talks to Elie Dolgin, a news editor at , about how these transplants would work, and some of the ethical issues they raise.

STAT: In groundbreaking trials, surgeons to use infected kidneys for transplants

Guest

Elie Dolgin, news editor at STAT. He tweets @ElieDolgin.