[jogiba]

Jennifer Wederell, 27, had no idea her lungs came from someone 'who smoked 20 cigarettes a day' when she received the transplant. She died from lung cancer the following year. Now her family wants to raise awareness about the organ shortage and encourage healthy donors to sign up.

Read more: Woman dies of lung cancer after receiving transplant from smoker - NY Daily News

[cyclone3d]

And whos great idea was it to harvest lungs from a smoker?

Whoever did that has an IQ of about 2.

[Racer X 69]

How can someone be considered a suitable donor if during the screening process past tobacco use is discovered? Especially for a recipient with cystic fibrosis?

[boriscleto]

Cigarettes causing lung cancer is a myth. Just ask the tobacco lobby.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

[Ex Finn.]

We must ban cigarettes, they are even more evil than guns.
Come to think of it... Mickey-Dee is there also...

P.S. that is just sad, if actually true!.

[jogiba]

We must ban cigarettes, they are even more evil than guns.
Come to think of it... Mickey-Dee is there also...

P.S. that is just sad, if actually true!.

BBC News - Transplant of smoker's lungs 'caused Jennifer Wederell death'

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Jennifer Wederell given smoker's lungs in transplant dies of cancer | Mail Online

Jennifer Wederell, Woman With Cystic Fibrosis, Dies After Receiving Smoker's Lungs In Transplant (PHOTOS)

The lungs that Jennifer Wederell was given to save her life brought only agonising death - Telegraph


Celebration: Jennifer with husband Dave and close family members following their wedding in Autumn 2011. The couple had delayed the ceremony by two years while she waited for the transplant

Read more: Cystic fibrosis sufferer Jennifer Wederell given smoker's lungs in transplant dies of cancer | Mail Online
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[Racer X 69]

We must ban cigarettes, they are even more evil than guns.

I would be delighted to see tobacco outlawed completely.

I watched cigarettes all but kill my father, and cause the premature death of his parents. They all were chain smoking maniacs. Grandpa was dead of a heart attack at 50. Grandma never made it to 55. My dad was up to 4 packs a day or more and a stroke all but killed him before he was 55.

I grew up in a smoking home, and smoked myself until I was in my mid 30's. As a result I suffer from diminished pulmonary function, and may die from emphysema myself. It has been about 20 years since I quit, and I still cannot do anything that demands extended cardiovascular endurance.

Tobacco is an evil that absolutely must be eliminated from our society.

I am the worst kind of smoker.




















An ex smoker.

{OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.}

[Ex Finn.]

After 28 years at near 2 packs a day, I went cold turkey 4 years ago.

[Racer X 69]

After 28 years at near 2 packs a day, I went cold turkey 4 years ago.

Congratulations!

[Colbyt]

The marketing may be evil .................................... the choice was yours.


I made a bad choice when I was young and changed my mind in 1986. Like you I am still paying for the bad choice. I won't blame others for my mistake.

[Racer X 69]

I made a bad choice when I was young and changed my mind in 1986. Like you I am still paying for the bad choice. I won't blame others for my mistake.

Good point.

The marketing may be evil .................................... the choice was yours.

Indeed we all are the ones who make the choice. But companies (not just tobacco) spend millions of dollars to encourage consumers to use their products. And many spend millions to devise ways to hook their customers and keep them hooked to the products they consume.

[Ratmagiclady]

How can someone be considered a suitable donor if during the screening process past tobacco use is discovered? Especially for a recipient with cystic fibrosis?

That sounds like the whole thing ain't true, actually, for just that reason, except as a last resort, anyway.


And if the patient lived long enough to die of *lung cancer,* ....honestly the anti-rejection drugs or the drugs to tolerate those drugs, would be the first place to be looking, there. If you've ever loved someone who'd been through transplants, well, that stuff's serious business.

But as far as I know, a history of smoking's the *least* of the reasons they aren't even anxious for me to donate *blood,* never mind organs. We've had a few people shouting out for parts right here on General talk over the years, you know. Fact is, I'm not even a particularly common blood type, not in this hemisphere, anyway, but they wouldn't even look at me if I thought it was worth a try. Someone stepped on research for a couple decades, ...not only does that leave *me* in a bad spot, it also means some lucky enough at all have to take what they can get.

[Jonathan Mac]

Bear in mind that immuno-suppressants will reduce a patient's ability to defend the body from cancer, so using a smoker's lungs, even as a last resort, is an even bigger risk than it may at first seem.

It's a great shame. Tobacco will one day be not only illegal but as socially unacceptable as spousal abuse. Things take time, all we can do is push in that direction.

[Rondec]

I don't think the simple fact of someone being a smoker precludes them from donating organs. The risk of lung cancer for a smoker is somewhere around 7 percent, depending on how long they smoked for and if they quit.

You also have to remember that the woman was in pretty bad shape at the time. If you told her that she could have these lungs of someone who had smoked, that seemed OK, or she could wait till ones came available from someone who hadn't, she probably would have taken them.

The five year survival rate after a lung transplant is fifty percent in the best of situations.

[ihasa]

I agree that she should have been made aware. But despite what her family say, I suspect they would have gone along with the transplant anyway. Suitable donor lungs are rare, and it was a case of weighing up almost certain early death, with the risk of an early death from the smoker's lungs.

"A lot of people have smoking histories and donate," Allen said. "Does that put them at significant risk of developing lung cancer? Yeah, it does."

"You might say, 'These are not ideal lungs,' but you might not get another opportunity," he added.

...

Because transplant lists are so long and the need for organs is so great - Wederell waited 18 months - many patients jump at the first opportunity, regardless of the status of the organ.

"The real truth in transplants is that most people aren't going to pass up an organ - even a high-risk one - because they're so hard to get," Caplan said. "Especially lungs. They're rare."

Read more: Woman dies of lung cancer after receiving transplant from smoker - NY Daily News