IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An Illinois veteran is upset with the Veterans Medical Center in Iowa City because doctors won’t consider him for a liver transplant because he is HIV-positive.

“I think they should evaluate me to see, at least, if my health would maintain a transplant,” said Gideon Green, of Monmouth, Ill.

Green, 57, who has end-stage liver disease, said doctors have told him that a transplant is his only treatment option.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ policy is not to perform transplants in patients with HIV, said spokeswoman Jo Schuda. That policy is being reviewed in light of new research that suggests patients with HIV may have greater transplant success than previously thought, but Schuda said change is not expected soon.

“It’s not like it’s going to be tomorrow,” she said.

Until then, VA doctors are only able to do preliminary reviews of medical histories in case the ban is lifted on transplants for HIV-positive people, Schuda said.

Green served as an electrician aboard aircraft carriers during the Vietnam War. He said he should be evaluated to see if he is a suitable candidate for a new liver.

Dr. John Cowdery, acting chief of staff at the Iowa City center, said doctors would begin a pre-transplant evaluation on Green. But, according to Schuda, that review would not lead to a transplant unless the department changed its policy.

Lambda Legal, a New York organization that advocates for the rights of gays and lesbians and those with HIV and AIDS, said it has filed a complaint on Green’s behalf with the Iowa City VA center. The group also has written to national VA officials about drafting a policy that requires VA hospitals across the county to evaluate HIV-positive patients as organ recipients.

“The transplant issue is extremely important because a large number of people with HIV also have hepatitis C, which causes liver failure,” said Jonathan Givner, AIDS Project staff attorney at Lambda Legal. “Often the only way to save them is through a liver transplant.”

Cowdery said Green’s case was already being reconsidered before Lambda Legal’s involvement.

Veterans hospitals serve more than 20,000 veterans with HIV.