A 46-year-old man received a transplant last year to treat his end-stage lung disease, only to be diagnosed with cancer in the donor’s lungs less than five months later.

Felix Lima received a double lung transplant on Oct. 23, 2022, at NYU Langone, intending to remedy the “end-stage lung disease secondary to pulmonary fibrosis,” where scarring in the organ makes it difficult to breathe, according to court documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Oct. 25.

By March 2023, Lima was coughing up blood and doctors found a cancerous tumor on his lung, according to court papers.

Now, he is seeking the court’s help in obtaining documents to investigate whether the donor organs were screened for cancer.

Thousands of pages of documents obtained by Lima from NYU Langone did not indicate what testing or screening, if any, was done before the transplant.

He and his attorney, Edward Goodman, have been unable to get more records from the hospital and the United Network for Organ Sharing, the court documents state.

Lima and Goodman could not be reached for comment.

A representative from UNOS, the nonprofit that manages the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, did not comment on the case but provided the requirements for institutions to test and convey findings, which include assessing deceased-donor organ quality.

“Patient safety is at the forefront of activities at transplant hospitals, organ procurement organizations, and labs,” the spokesperson said.

An NYU Langone spokesperson could not comment on the pending legal matter but said all donated organs undergo standard screenings, including for cancer, prior to any transplant.