Image by Flickr user cori kindred

On March 9th, the Medical University of South Carolina performed the state of South Carolina's first lung transplant since the program was abandoned in 1997.

Until this month, South Carolina residents had to go to a neighboring state for transplantation. With one successful operation down, the program is on its way to becoming Medicare-certified. Until the surgery center has performed 10 successful procedures within a 12-month period, Medicare will not pay for any lung transplants performed.

The Post and Courier has two posts on the topic, one on the first successful lung transplant and another on the reinstated program.