Do people with transplanted organ need immunosuppressive drugs forever?

Yes: The chance of developing acute rejection decreases over time after an organ transplant, so often the dosage and number of immunosuppressive drugs needed can be lowered. For almost all patients, however, the need for immunosuppressive meds remains the rest of their lives following organ transplants.

In General, Yes: However, identical twins (same placenta) don't since they do not reject organs and tissues. In addition, there may be a few recipients with a sluggish immune system that don't appear to reject their transplanted organ. We call this tolerance, and it is a very hot area of research. The doses of is drugs usually can be decreased over time, and some recipients actually take very little.