DISTRIBUTING DONOR ORGANS

How are donated organs distributed to patients who need them? The need for organs far exceeds the supply, but who decides who gets the precious items?

 

Online Special: Organ Donation March 27, 1998 A new system of organ allocation Dec. 12, 1996 Liver transplant policy Browse the NewsHour's coverage of health   United Network for Organ Sharing The Office of the Surgeon General OrganDonor.gov Department of Health and Human Services TRIO: Information for organ donors and recipients	Policies that guide the distribution or allocation of organs and tissue have always been controversial. When someone who chooses to be an organ donor dies, who should benefit from their decision? Should it be someone in the donor's hometown? Should someone across the country who will die without a new liver be given priority? Should the organ go to a child, who has most of his life yet to live? These are the issues that policymakers and medical professionals have grappled with since organ transplants became an everyday reality in the 1970s.
	Matching patients with donors
	Patients are matched to organs based on a number of factors, including blood and tissue type, medical urgency, time on the waiting list, and geographical location. In 1998, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala issued national guidelines for organ procurement and transplantation. The "Final Rule," which took effect in March 2000, lays out guidelines for government and transplant professionals across the country to follow when organs become available. This ruling puts greater emphasis on medical need than on geographic location. The final rule includes: Standardized medical criteria for placing patients on transplant waiting lists Standardized criteria for defining a patient's medical status Allocation policies to make the most effective use of organs. You can read specific guidelines for each organ at the United Network for Organ Sharing web site.