Recent action by Congress may mean even more delay before the controversial regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) governing organ allocation can become effective.
The regulations are designed to broaden geographic access to organs and give priority to the sickest patients first. But implementation has been delayed time and again as much of the transplant community has fought against what it feels would amount to government meddling in medical decisions.
When they were first introduced a year and a half ago, the rules were slated to become effective in October 1998, but Congress imposed a year-long moratorium to give the Institute of Medicine time to study and write a report on the issues surrounding the proposed rules.
Last month, HHS Secretary Donna Shalala stuck a deal with Congress under which the regulations would have become effective in late December or early January (see Transplant News Network, November 15, 1999). Just a week later, however, Congress took action that could postpone the plan even further.
The Associated Press and Reuters news service reported on November 18 that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott slipped language into an unrelated bill on November 17 that could delay the new rules for 90 days or more. Both news services said that the language became part of a popular bill that would extend tax credits and would help disabled people to return to the workforce. According to the Associated Press, the deal made by Shalala could still prevail, and the outcome remains unclear.
An entirely separate measure that remains pending could strip HHS of its power over the nation's transplant system (see Transplant News Network, October 15, 1999).
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