Tennessee top spot for transplant candidates like Apple CEO Steve Jobs

“If an organ transplant candidate is flexible and owns his own jet, Tennessee can be an attractive place to get a liver,” Chris Echegaray reports for TheTennessean. “Organ procurers are exceptionally gifted at getting relatives to donate a dying person’s liver, the workers and transplant experts say, and relatively few Tennesseans are waiting for them. Of the nation’s 58 organ procurement organizations, Tennessee has landed in the top five in receiving organs for the past several years.”

“That’s probably why Apple founder Steve Jobs skipped over his home state of California’s 3,474-person waiting list and got on Tennessee’s 229-person list to get his liver in Memphis two months ago,” Echegaray reports.

“Registering in multiple states isn’t rare for those who can afford to recover far from home, and it increases the chance of finding a match, said Dr. Michael Porayko, medical director of liver transplantation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center,” Echegaray reports.

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jeff A.” for the heads up.]