Jury rules doctors who transplanted diseased kidney not negligent

BOSTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts jury has found that several doctors who transplanted a diseased kidney from a deceased homeless man into a patient were not negligent in his death.

WCVB-TV reports a Suffolk County jury on Wednesday cleared the doctors and the organ bank that facilitated the transfer.

Pierre Dimanche, of Everett, died after receiving the transplanted kidney in 2008 at a Boston hospital. Doctors had unknowingly transmitted a rare rodent virus during the transplant. His daughter sued.

His family said the homeless man was an alcoholic and had extensive health problems, including signs of meningitis, that should have prevented his organs from being donated.

Attorneys for the doctors and organ bank say the man was classified as a high-risk donor and Dimanche was warned about the risk level.