Hundreds of patients each year undergo liver transplants when they don't need them, and possibly never will, a four-month Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation found.
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March 9, 2008
Risk versus benefit
- How liver surgeries cut short patients' lives
- Offer of a liver only the beginning of a long road
- Rejected livers often land in Indianapolis
- MELD 15 hasn't become magic number
March 10, 2008
Clash of philosophies
- Treat sickest first, or give livers to the less ill?
- Starzl institute: 'Nobody has a unit like this'
- 'The sicker they are ... you see a miracle'
- Medical ethics issue focuses on 'doing no harm' to patients
March 11, 2008
Medical ethics vs.
medical economics
- Doing fewer transplants cuts money, prestige
- Surgeons, others see a need for changes
- Summing up the series
March 13, 2008
- Surgeons seek reform of liver allocations
March 23, 2008
- Live-donor procedures performed early raise risk factor
March 26, 2008
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Clinton laments economics' role in transplants
April 20, 2008
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One-third of liver donors suffer complications
May 11, 2008
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Agency to study needless liver transplants
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About this report
Luis Fabregas is a special projects reporter who specializes
in health and medical issues. Since joining the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review in 1999, Fabregas has written about hospital
infections, organ transplantation and health care economics,
among other things. His 2001 series "Hannah's
Story" and 2005 report "Born to Fight" on premature
births received first-place awards from the National Association
of Hispanic Journalists. Fabregas earned a master's degree in communications
and a bachelor's degree in journalism from Duquesne University.
Fabregas, 41, lives with his wife and two children in Natrona Heights.
He can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7998.
Andrew Conte is an enterprise reporter who specializes in
government and political reporting. Before joining the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review in 2001, Conte worked as a Capitol
Hill correspondent in Washington, D.C., reported on the collapse
of Soviet communism and followed stories to Asia
and Europe. He has covered Pittsburgh city government and
Pennsylvania's gambling industry for the Trib. He has twice
been named the newspaper's reporter of the year. A professor at Point
Park University, Conte serves as the founding director of the Point Park
News Service. Conte, 36, lives in Mt. Lebanon with his wife and two children.
He can be reached via e-mail or at 412-320-7835.
By the numbers: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's analysis
The United Network for Organ Sharing, the national clearinghouse for organs, provided
data on the annual number of liver transplants performed at each of the United
States' 127 liver transplant programs from 2002 to 2006, as well as the first nine
months of 2007. UNOS sorted the transplants by MELD score, while eliminating pediatric
cases and those involving live donors.
The UNOS data includes exception points awarded to patients with cancer or quality of-
life issues not reflected in their biological MELD score, based on three blood tests.
Patients seeking additional points apply to a regional review board.
Click here to read about the data.
Computer-assisted reporting: Staff writer Brian Bowling. Photo/videos: Joe Appel, Andrew Russell and Scott Spangler. Graphics production: Bob Newell. Flash production: Jason Lanza.
Print edition version
To view the individual pages from the print edition in Acrobat .PDF format, click on the images below.
MARCH 9, 2008
Risk versus benefit
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MARCH 10, 2008
Clash of philosophies
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MARCH 11, 2008
Medical ethics vs. medical economics
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Luis Fabregas can be reached at lfabregas@tribweb.com or 412-320-7998. Andrew Conte can be reached at andrewconte@tribweb.com or 412-320-7835.