Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare today issued a brief press release confirming that Steve Jobs did receive a liver transplant at the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute. The release was issued with Jobs' permission several days after The Wall Street Journal reported that Jobs received the transplant in Tennessee two months ago.
Addressing speculation that Jobs' fame and wealth may have enabled him to gain access to a donor liver ahead of other patients on the waiting list, the release notes that Jobs had qualified on the basis of being the sickest patient of his blood type at the time the donor liver became available.
Mr. Jobs underwent a complete transplant evaluation and was listed for transplantation for an approved indication in accordance with the Transplant Institute policies and United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) policies.
He received a liver transplant because he was the patient with the highest MELD score (Model for End-Stage Liver Disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available. Mr. Jobs is now recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.
The release also points out that the institute is one of the ten largest liver transplant centers in the United States and has one of the highest patient survival rates in the country, factors which led to Jobs' decision to have the procedure performed there.
Several sources have reported that Jobs returned to work at Apple's Cupertino headquarters yesterday, although rumors suggest that he may limit himself to a part-time basis for the next month or two.
