Healthy Living: Liver Transplants for Kids

Each year, thousands of children, from babies to teenagers, need a new liver.

Just as in adults, many of these organs come from a deceased donor.

But the wait for a new liver can be long.

One out of five infants and one out of ten children die every year waiting for a liver.

In Healthy Living, learn how new breakthroughs are helping more children get the lifesaving liver they so desperately need.

New protocols are also being put into effect this year.

Previously, if a child died, and their parents donated their liver, that liver would not necessarily go to another child.

Now, a new rule has been passed that if a child dies, their liver is offered nationwide to pediatric patients waiting for a liver before going to an adult on the liver transplant waiting list.