The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) continues to lack competition for its role as the government contractor that carries out the nation's transplant system.
UNOS has been the contractor that matches organs and recipients since the national system was created in 1986. However, for the past year and a half, UNOS has been fighting attempts by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to change the way the organs are allocated in the United States.
Rand Corp., a contractor based in Santa Monica, California, had been interested in bidding for the contract to run the transplant system but has decided it "was too perilous to dive into" the fight with HHS, the Associated Press reported on December 1. The decision by Rand was reportedly a disappointment for the government. "HHS and its allies had hoped that Rand's interest in running the system would put pressure on UNOS to work more closely with HHS," the Associated Press said.
The outcome of the new regulations proposed by HHS to change the organ allocation system remains unknown. While legislation could be implemented that would soon give HHS the power it wants, other legislation, if enacted, could have the opposite effect and strip HHS of its control over the transplant system.
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