‘MONUMENTAL’ BREAKTHROUGH
Weymouth man given pig kidney at MGH
Boston has once again made medical history.
The renowned hospital Mass General Hospital announced yesterday the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically edited pig kidney into a 62-year-old Weymouth man living with end-stage kidney disease.
“Nearly seven decades after the first successful kidney transplant, our clinicians have once again demonstrated our commitment to provide innovative treatments and help ease the burden of disease for our patients and others around the world,” said Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO, Mass General Brigham.
On Saturday, a team of transplant surgeons at the teaching hospital completed a four-hour operation transplanting a genetically modified pig kidney into a human patient, identified as Richard “Rick” Slayman, doctors from MGH said at a press conference yesterday morning.
MGH said Slayman is “recovering well” and expected to be discharged soon.
The cutting-edge CRISPR technology was pivotal in this operation.
The pig kidney was provided by egenesis of Cambridge from a pig donor that was “genetically edited using CRISPR-CAS9 technology to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans,” the hospital added in a release.
“We are committed to revolutionizing the treatment of organ failure and transforming transplantation to a system that is more equitable for patients, where supply is no longer a barrier to access,” Mike Curtis, egenesis CEO, said during the press conference.
Cross-species transplantation, Curtis said, is the “most scalable and sustainable approach” to delivering organs to every patient who needs one. The company’s vision is “a world in which no patient dies waiting for an organ,” the CEO said.
The breakthrough is critical to addressing “unequal access for ethnic minority patients,” who face systemic barriers resulting in wide health disparities in kidney transplants, said Winfred Williams, Associate Chief of the MGH Renal Division.
According to a 2023 review published in the National Library of Medicine, the incidence of end-stage renal disease, being put on the transplant waitlist and receiving a living donor transplants were lower for Black patients than White and other.
Slayman is a system manager at the Department of Transportation who has worked throughout his battle with diabetes and kidney failure, said Williams, who said he has gotten to know and treat the patient for over a decade. Slayman has had diabetes and hypertension for 30 years and received a human kidney transplant in 2018, which eventually failed.
“The real hero today is the patient, Mr. Slayman, as the success of this pioneering surgery, once deemed unimaginable, would not have been possible without his courage and willingness to embark on a journey into uncharted medical territory,” said Dr. Joren C. Madsen, director of the MGH Transplant Center.
“As the global medical community celebrates this monumental achievement, Mr. Slayman becomes a beacon of hope for countless individuals suffering from end-stage renal disease and opens a new frontier in organ transplantation,” the doc
sure vote.
“If someone was found guilty of a felony, they would be able to be expelled,” Williams said. But he said the Code of Conduct alone does not allow a duly elected or appointed official to be removed from their seat.
“Barring being found guilty of a felony, they’ll be sitting in that seat,” Williams said. “Nothing in here would allow anyone on the City Council to kick another councilor out.”
The committee last met on the issue on Jan. 30. Action on the code of conduct by the committee made up of Chair Sokhary Chau, Councilor Kim Scott and
Descoteaux was almost derailed by the members expressing confusion about what kind of behavior constituted a violation of the code’s policy and penalties.
Section 51-3(m) states that “All elected and appointed officials shall: refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges, or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of other elected or appointed officials, staff, and/or the public.”
“I know this is a very touchy subject, but I think the question needs to be asked,” Descoteaux said. “If somebody was found guilty of a felony, would the City Council have the ability to expel that councilor?” “Yes,” Williams said.
The censure motion was made by Councilors Wayne Jenness, Vesna Nuon, John
Leahy and then-councilor John Drinkwater in the time period following Councilor Corey Robinson’s Nov. 16 arraignment in Lowell District Court on two charges of domestic assault and battery on his onagain/off-again girlfriend.
The alleged incident took place at the victim’s residence in Dracut on Nov. 15, during which the newly reelected Centralville representative is alleged to have hit, chased, strangled and pulled out the victim’s hair.
Following his overnight detention at Billerica’s Middlesex House of Correction, Robinson was freed following a 58A dangerousness and pretrial detention hearings. Conditions of his release included GPS monitoring and other restrictions in lieu of incarceration pending
his return court dates.
Robinson has a history with the judicial system, including a record of assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. The incidents, according to the file, took place 25-plus years ago. Robinson is 46 years old.
To date, Robinson is the only sitting city councilor to face criminal charges while serving on the body. The charges against him exposed deficiencies in a uniform standard of conduct for all elected and appointed officials in the city.
According to the Massachusetts General Laws, a crime punishable by death or imprisonment in the state prison is a felony. All
other crimes are misdemeanors.
If found guilty of the charges, some of the penalties Robinson could face include “house of correction for not more than 2½ years; or fine not more than $5,000; or both such fine and imprisonment.”
Barring a felony conviction, the proposed ordinance requires a two-thirds supermajority roll call vote to approve a motion to censure versus a majority vote.
Williams also noted that some of the violations and penalties could include a loss of subcommittee appointments.
Now that the committee has voted out the Code of Conduct, it gets drafted by the Law Department, which sends it to the full council for a first reading. Then it’s
referred to a public hearing two weeks later, after publication in a local newspaper, before coming back to the council for a final vote.
No timing was set on when the Law Department would return with an ordinance for the council’s consideration, but Chau suggested it could be as early as March 26.
“We’ll give everybody the opportunity to review the recommendations and the report in front of us and put it on the agenda for next week for me to make a presentation and also get the opinion of other councilors,” he said.
Robinson returns to Lowell District Court for a compliance and election hearing date in the matter of Commonwealth v. Corey Robinson on April 1.