Stan Boling, a 61-year-old man from Knoxville, Tenn., contracted hepatitis B in 1976 and HIV in 1982. While Mr. Boling successfully controlled his HIV with medications, he experienced liver failure last summer from his hepatitis.
In September 2017, Duke physicians identified Mr. Boling as an ideal candidate for a transplant and put his name on two transplant lists — one for HIV negative donors and one for HIV positive donors. Physicians found a donor match on the second list three days before Christmas, and Mr. Boling underwent a successful transplant.
The Hope Act of 2013 opened the door for more HIV patients like Mr. Boling to receive transplants. Before 2013, it was illegal for people with HIV to become organ donors.
“Those organs, unfortunately, went into the trash,” Carl Berg, MD, director of liver transplantation at Duke University Hospital, told WRAL TechWire. “When Stan is able to get an HIV positive organ, it frees up a potential donor that he was waiting for on the regular list.”
Duke Hospital is the only transplant center in North Carolina that accepts HIV organ donors for transplants.
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