As the case of two kidney transplant patients who ended up contracting a brain infection came to light, health officials are now looking to re-examine their policies regarding organ transplants, especially about suing people with certain neurological conditions as donors.

The organ donor involved in the cases, a child at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, had long been suffering from seizures and a brain disorder which doctors initially thought was an autoimmune disease and not transmissible. After investigation, the real reason turned out to be a rare, usually fatal infection, but the mix up in diagnosis had not been realized till the transplant had happened and the two recipients fell seriously ill.

The whole situation was made public by the medical center on December 18.

"The bigger issue is that in cases in which a patient has a neurologic condition that hasn't been definitively diagnosed, that is associated with altered mental status, most experts would recommend against the use of organs from those donors", shared Dr. Michael G. Ison, Chairman of an advisory committee on infectious disease transmission for the United Network for Organ Sharing.

The case has effectively managed to put the loose and lenient national policy of organ donation, and the authorities are thinking about prohibit people with "poorly defined neurological disorders" as potential donors.