The American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) wants a chance to provide feedback on any changes that the Department of Health and Human Services plans to make in its rule that would change the way organs are allocated in the United States.
Enactment of the regulation — designed to provide for a nationwide system of organ distribution — was originally scheduled for October 1998, but an ensuing debate caused implementation to be postponed until October 21 this year. With the new deadline nearing, ASTS has asked HHS Secretary Donna Shalala "to immediately publish the changes she intends to make in this key regulation," ASTS said in a statement. In mid September, HHS "reaffirmed its intention to make changes in the rule but provided no indication when it might publish those changes. It also would make no commitment to a new comment period before imposition of the rule."
ASTS wants HHS to give the transplant community time to react to any changes HHS makes to the rule before it becomes effective. To keep its membership up to date on concerns that ASTS officials have taken up with HHS, ASTS has posted a position paper at www.asts.org/whatsnew.htm.
Since the rule was published in the Federal Register in April 1998, ASTS noted, "we have expressed both strong support for and strong opposition to various aspects of the final rule."
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