The US has come very far in medical technology since 1954. The nation recorded its 1 millionth organ transplant. Read to know more about the tremendous feat.
One millionth organ transplant in the US
The United States recorded its one millionth organ transplant Friday afternoon, a historic milestone for the medical procedure that has saved thousands of lives. The milestone achievement was confirmed by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a nonprofit that runs the nation’s only organ procurement and transplant network. It is unclear which organ helped record the one-millionth procedure. Additionally, the details about the patient are unknown.
The first successful organ transplant in the US occurred at the Women’s Hospital in Boston in 1954. Doctors transplanted a kidney from Ronald Herrick to his identical twin brother Richard. The 23-year-old was suffering from chronic kidney failure. Dr. Joseph Murray, the lead surgeon received the Nobel prize in Medicine for the achievement.
More on the milestone
Until the early 1980s, the number of these life-saving procedures was low. However, the success in transplanting organs such as the heart, liver, and pancreas, helped raise the numbers. Additionally, according to the UNOS, the advent of anti-rejection medication had a profound effect. Since 2007, over 500,000 procedures have been performed. 2021 alone saw over 41,000 instances of the procedure. The number is the highest ever recorded. Moreover, twice as many organ transplants are occurring now than 25 years ago.
Unfortunately, despite this achievement, there are several downfalls. About 5,000 people die annually waiting on the transplant list. According to a 2020 study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, several donor kidneys in the US are discarded without a reason. However, several share stories of how organ donation and transplant changed life for them and their loved ones. Such stories are helping the cause as more people sign up to be donors.
“We are all going to leave here. You have to talk to your family and let them know you want your organs to go on, to extend the lives of other people. I want people to know that Nick was love, he was the element of love, always helping, and it is just like him to keep giving and spreading love,” said Maria Clark from Lousiana. She honored her son Nicholas Peters’ wish to be an organ donor after his death in an accident. The heart went to a sixth grader in Arkansas who was suffering from a serious heart condition.
