NYC doctor sues ex-wife over donated kidney.
Ok, let’s assume (for sake of argument) he gets his kidney back. Can he get his kidney re-implanted? Would it still work, or would there be any health risks?
He’s asking for $1.5 million dollars in a bitter divorce as a result of her cheating on him. He just wants to stick it to her.
The statement about actually getting his kidney back is rhetoric. He’s not getting anything so this is basically a way of publicly humiliating her.
I get that part. What I’m wondering is if it’s even physically possible to have your own organ re-implanted, aside from legal and ethical concerns.
Rejection wouldn’t be a problem. I guess it depends how many blood vessels and supporting tissues were removed when the kidney was originally taken. There might not be anything to hook the kidney up to even if it was put back.
Heh, just occurred to me that if I’d written my last sentence “…hook the kidney up to if put back”, I’d’v’e ended it with five prepositions.
Not even two. “put” is a verb. “if” isn’t a preposition either.
Hell, for that matter, that “back” isn’t a preposition either, is it? (It’s the sort of thing traditional grammar would call an adverb). I’m afraid you don’t even get one… 
Wow, I am really off today.
Actually, it might be!
By now, what was his kidney has become infiltrated by her white blood cells, especially by what are called lymphocytes (and related cells). So, if the kidney was transplanted back into him, it would carry with it what are called “passenger lymphocytes”. Such cells may well induce an immunologic response leading to rejection of the retransplanted organ or other, nasty problems.
You may wish to do a search for either “passenger lymphocyte” or “passenger leukocyte”.
This guy is truly renally retentive.
How does this case hold up in the face of laws against selling human organs, I wonder? If he’s “offering” to take the organ instead of the money, doesn’t it get rather hazy there?
Good one. FYI, when I said he wasn’t getting anything back I also meant the money since he donated the kidney. Interesting question about re-implanting though.
Well, this isn’t a rejection of the kidney itself. Wouldn’t the effect be temporary until the lymphocytes ran their life cycle and died off? It’s not like he’d have to be on immunosuppressives for the rest of his life.
On research, people have died from this, but it’s worth noting that these were conventional transplant recipients and already in precarious health. If an otherwise healthy man gets his kidney back and goes on a short regimen of immunosuppressives, what’s his prognosis?