June 23rd, 2009
Hospital confirms Steve Jobs transplant
The hospital where Steve Jobs received a liver transplant issued a press release tonight, confirming - with Jobs permission - the transplant. The hospital said Jobs received the transplant because was the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available. But more importantly, the statement noted that Jobs is “recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.”
It was widely reported that Jobs returned to work at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters this week.
The full statement reads:
James D. Eason, M.D., program director at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute and chief of transplantation confirmed today, with the patient’s permission, that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in partnership with the University of Tennessee in Memphis.
Mr. Jobs underwent a complete transplant evaluation and was listed for transplantation for an approved indication in accordance with the Transplant Institute policies and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) policies.
He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available. Mr. Jobs is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.
The Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute performed 120 liver transplants in 2008 making it one of the ten largest liver transplant centers in the United States. We provide transplants to patients regardless of race, sex, age, financial status, or place of residence. Our one year patient and graft survival rates are among the best in the nation and were a dominant reason in Mr. Jobs’s choice of transplant centers. We respect and protect every patient’s private health information and cannot reveal any further information on the specifics of Mr. Jobs’s case.
Also see: Jobs recovering from liver transplant; re-ignites debate over privacy rights
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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