California has become the latest state to allow transplants of HIV-infected organs to patients who already suffer from the disease.

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed emergency legislation paving the way for a HIV-infected man to donate part of his liver to his similarly infected spouse before the surgery becomes too perilous for doctors to perform.

Before now, such procedures had remained illegal in California, even though the federal government green-lighted such transplants a while before.

In recent years, advances in HIV testing have greatly diminished concerns about the transfer of such tissue and antiretroviral medications now allow patients to live for decades with HIV.

Organs of Deceased Donors Also Approved for Usage

The California law also allows any HIV-positive sufferer to receive organs from living or deceased people. For patients willing to take the risk, the wait time for organs needed for such transplants could be cut from years to just months.

University of California, San Francisco Medical Center transplant surgeon Dr. Peter Stock said he hopes to quickly perform the procedure on the unnamed California man, but will need time to run tests and make preparations.

Currently, there are as many as 65 HIV-positive patients now awaiting either kidney or liver transplants at the California hospital, a state known for having some of the longest wait times for organs across the country.

"There are so many desperate people out there waiting for organs," said Stock. "The donor shortage is such a problem. Literally, we lose people every week."

Back in 2013, President Obama signed legislation allowing trials of HIV-infected transplants and a year later the Department of Health and Human Services approved safety regulations.

John Hopkins Performed First Such Transplant

Just over two months ago, doctors at John Hopkins University Medical Center performed the first transplant of HIV-infected organs in the U.S. using the liver and kidney of a deceased donor.

Currently, just short of 121,000 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant, including 21,888 in California, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. On average, 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant.

Before the 2013 bill was enacted, Stock visited the Capitol to urge lawmakers to act quickly in approving the legislation.

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