WASHINGTON, D.C.-The fight over organ allocation continues apace despite the March enactment of the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) final rule changing the organ distribution system to one that places medical need ahead of geography.
On April 4, the House of Representatives voted 275-147 to pass bill HR-2418, which would reauthorize the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 and would largely return decision making on the distribution of organs to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). The measure was applauded by a number of transplant groups (see "Groups React to Legislative Maneuvers on Allocation Issues," below).
The next day, former heart and lung transplant surgeon Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) proposed a compromise in the Senate. Frist introduced The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Act of 2000 (S-2366), which would allow UNOS to write the organ distribution policy, but a new board that would include an equal number of members appointed by HHS, UNOS, and the Institute of Medicine would resolve disputes between UNOS and HHS.
On April 12, the Clinton administration agreed on the compromise with Sen. Frist and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). The measure was passed 18-0 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee later that day. However, the Associated Press reported, the compromise "still might face opposition in the House, which passed a much different bill last week."
For Your Information:
At http://thomas.loc.gov, search for "HR2418" and "S2366." Details are also posted at www.senate.gov/~frist/, the website of Sen. Frist.
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