April 11, 2008 - Petsmart Sued for Selling Sick Hamster to Transplant Donor

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Nancy Magee is suing Petsmart because the company's Warwick, Rhode Island, store sold a hamster infected with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) to a woman whose liver was later transplanted into Magee's husband. Her husband, Thomas Magee, died of LCMV about a month after his April 2005 transplant. The widow filed suit in Massachusetts Superior Court in February, and the case was moved to U.S. District Court in Boston this week.  Magee is seeking unspecified damages. 

Magee claims that Petsmart sold the hamster to her husband's organ donor, an unnamed woman, who later died of a stroke.  Her liver, which was infected with LCMV, was transplanted into Magee's husband, who subsequently died from the virus. Although LCMV has little or no effect on a healthy person, it can be fatal for someone with a weak immune system.

LCMV is a virus carried in the saliva, urine, and feces of infected rodents, which do not show any sign of illness.  While human-to-human transmission of the virus is rare, LCMV can be transmitted through an organ transplant. Two other people who received organs from the same woman died and another became seriously ill.

A spokesperson for Petsmart said that the company does not comment on pending litigation.