A Utah man living with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) recently became the first patient in the state to receive a kidney transplant from a donor infected with the same blood-borne disease, thanks to the efficacy of new hep C drugs, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Andres Galvan, 61, had been undergoing dialysis for kidney failure for the past two years and was on the transplant list for a year. When he agreed to accept a kidney from an out-of-state donor with hep C, he was bumped up to the top of the transplant list.

His surgeons said that such a transplant would have been unthinkable before the latest wave of hep C treatments, which were introduced into the health care system last year. Now that cure rates for the new drugs are up to nearly 90 percent, doctors say they don’t have to worry as much about the virus continuing to damage patients’ transplanted or other vital organs.

The kidney transplant worked immediately for Galvan, and he is currently off dialysis. Doctors say he can expect a long life.

To read the full Salt Lake Tribune article, click here.