Heart transplant program stopped due to quality of offered donor hearts

[Clark]

http://www.abcnews4.com/story/25601985/expert-says-musc-could-be-first-of-many-to-cancel-heart-transplant-program

Expert: MUSC could be first of many to cancel heart transplant program
By Stacy Jacobson

The director of Duke Medical Center's heart transplant program says hospitals across the country are dealing with the same weak heart issues as the Medical University of South Carolina.

But one family says the news is still devastating as they consider their options.

Gus Molony saw shutting down the heart-transplant program at MUSC as life-changing for many families.

“They’re going to be losing some of that hope. That hope is what keeps these people alive,” he said.

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But for the time being, life-changing transplants won’t happen in South Carolina. MUSC officials said they couldn't pinpoint why they said they have been receiving weak hearts.

"Things like this are healthy. It makes us stop and look at our processes and make sure we’re doing the right thing," said Dr. Joseph Rogers, medical director of Duke's heart transplant program.

Since the hospital started an internal review in January, officials said one patient died. Several others had gotten sick since last year, they said.

“A lot of the big centers in the U.S. are seeing this more commonly, but no one's exactly sure why,” Rogers said.

Rogers applauded MUSC's move and said he wouldn’t be surprised if more hospitals follow.

“It may be the general demographic of cardiac donors is changing. We know in the U.S. that the age of the average donor is going up,” Rogers said.

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