If your life is threatened by renal failure, you may receive a kidney transplant thanks to Medicare. Except if you're an illegal immigrant. The Times profiles the struggles of Angel, a waiter with failing kidneys who is "so well liked at the Manhattan restaurant where he had worked for a decade that everyone from the customers to the dishwasher was donating money" to help. His siblings are donor matches, and the government will pay for the $75K/year dialysis but not a $100K transplant. “The ultimate irony is it’s cheaper to put in a transplant than to dialyze someone for the rest of their life," Bellevue medical director Dr. Eric Manheimer says. more ›

On trial for transplanting a cancerous kidney into patient Vincent Liew, Dr. Thomas Diflo attempted to argue yesterday that he was not to blame for Liew's death. Diflo says Liew was "adamant" that he keep the kidney, despite being told of the risks. Liew allegedly did not want to go back on dialysis. However, Dr. Diflo became offended at the suggestion that his statement blames Liew for the wrongful-death, saying in court, "I had great affection for Mr. Liew and his opinions. To even float the idea that I blamed him for his death is ridiculous." more ›

Though the United Network for Organ Sharing didn't have time to check recipient Vincent Liew's new kidney, it's not like they had any warning: donor Sandy Cabrera didn't even know she had cancer. After suffering a stroke, she was raced to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, where doctors said she would never recover, and spoke to Cabrera's daughter about organ donation. more ›

Organ recipient Vincent Liew died seven months after his kidney transplant at NYU Medical Center in 2002 from uterine cancer—a disease only women get. It turns out that NYU had transplanted a cancerous kidney into Liew's body, and now his widow is suing the doctors responsible. Kimberly Liew's lawyer says the kidney was "covered in tumors" when it was put Vincent's body, but doctors didn't learn that it had come from a cancerous donor until two months after the transplant. more ›

The NY Post caught former governor Eliot Spitzer and Silda Wall Spitzer at NYU Medical Center yesterday evening. The Post has a photo gallery and wonders, "Could it have been couple's therapy?" more ›

Chalk it up to the Wall Street Journal for making moles so interesting. The WSJ has an article about how a pioneering medical procedure and disturbing nude photos have rocked the world of dermatology. Bill Slue, an NYU Medical Center photographer who "devised a way to capture the whole body on film using 24 sectional photographs," which helps dermatologists monitor patients' moles. But now there's a dispute about whether he took photographs of female patients for his own pleasure. more ›

The Sun reports that one of the Metropolitan Museum of Arts' treasured artworks was recently at the NYU Medical Center for a CT scan. Conservator of paintings George Bisacca had the duty of transporting "The Annunciation", a painting by the Sienese master Sassetta from the 15th-century, there to clear up some questions. Mainly the "historical conundrum" about whether "the Met's painting...was originally part of Sassetta's famous, but long ago fragmented, altarpiece from the Franciscan church of Borgo San Sepolcro in Arezzo." more ›

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a body was found at Schenk and Livonia Aves. in Brooklyn that was initially reported as body parts, a shooting on Prospect Ave. in the Bronx, and there was a police car multi-vehicle accident on the Henry Hudson Parkway near 79th St.
• A daycare cries child abuse as the artists who share their space are attempting to throw the tots out on the street.
• The head of neuropsychiatry at NYU Medical Center testified that Peter Braunstein was plotting to cap his life of crime by killing Vogue Editor Anna Wintour.
• A former domestic violence counselor was found strangled to death in her own home in Brooklyn.
• The Yankees cursed pitching staff suffers another setback as Darrell Rasner broke his finger in today's game against the Mets.
• New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating real estate practices that may have involved brokers pressuring appraisers to inflate values.
• Jason Giambi finally admits to taking steroids prior to the BALCO scandal and apologizes for it. Deafening silence is heard from other accused players.
• Eyewitness News anchor Liz Cho gave birth to a little girl this week.

Yesterday afternoon, a 51 year old Bronx woman was fatally hit by a city bus. Rachel Levy had been crossing a road near the Henry Hudson Parkway around West 236th Street. The bus driver didn't realize someone was hit and didn't stop; the driver was not charged. more ›

If you think that laughter is the best medicine, then the volunteers of the New York City Free Clinic have a dose for you. This Thursday, February 23rd, the Clinic is hosting "Stand-up For Healthcare Access," an evening of stand-up comedy and dinner to raise funds for the Clinic. Performing are nine of America's top comics including Colin Quinn, Greg Giraldo (of Comedy Central), and Greg Rogell (The Aristocrats, Half-Baked). The event takes place at the Rosenthal Pavilion at the Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South at 6:30 pm. All funds raised go towards providing free health care for the uninsured of New York City. more ›

Want to help provide free healthcare to some of NYC's neediest and clog your own coronaries at the same time? Well, for the next 2 weeks, you can eat at two restaurants in the NYU Medical Center area and donate the entire proceeds of your feast to the New York City Free Clinic. The Clinic provides at no cost to its patients, a full range of healthcare services, including specialty referrals, counseling, and social services. You can eat at: more ›