British woman received lungs from a 30-year smoker, family complains they weren’t told

Woman received lungs of a 30-year smoker

LONDON — The family of a 28-year-old British woman who unknowingly received a lung transplant from a smoker says she would have been “horrified” and have lodged a complaint.

Cystic fibrosis sufferer Lyndsey Scott in February 2009 received a double lung transplant from a donor who had smoked for three decades. She died in July of pneumonia.

Britain’s top transplant official Chris Rudge defended the decision and said patients should be told they are not getting a “brand new” organ. He said on the BBC that “lungs from a smoker can be working perfectly normally.”

Scott’s family called for patients to be told more information about organ donors before accepting a transplant.