How have organ transplants progressed and improved?

In the 1950s and early 1960s, patients needing an organ transplant were in a tragic bind. Transplants were surgically possible, but the body's immune response rapidly rejected organs donated by unrelated individuals. People either died or led greatly diminished lives.

Thanks to anti-rejection medicines that were developed in the 1960s and 1980s, tens of thousands of Americans have received transplants of a wide variety of organs and are able to prolong their lives, regain their health, and maintain their independence.