UNOS releases new organ-donation guidelines limiting certain patients with healt

[Guest guest]

The Wall Street Journal (9/13, D1, Meckler) reports that new

guidelines from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the

private organization that runs the nation's transplant network, " aim

to better screen potential living donors and limit who can become a

donor. " Of the four guidelines, the " most contentious are two sets

of voluntary guidelines. The first aims to ensure that potential

donors are properly screened, both medically and psychologically;

that afterward they are followed to ensure no problems develop; and

that people who are at increased risk never make it to the operating

room. The second lays out recommendations to ensure donors give

their informed consent. " However, " some surgeons worry that

insurance companies or juries will use the guidelines to penalize

doctors who don't follow them. Moreover, critics say that UNOS

shouldn't be telling doctors how to practice medicine. "

The Washington Post (9/13, A1, Stein) adds, " The more

aggressive drive for organ donations grew out of a federal campaign

known as the Breakthrough Collaborative, which the Department of

Health and Human Services launched in 2003. The project was designed

to boost the number of organs retrieved by the nation's 58 organ-

procurement organizations, or OPOs. " The Post notes that critics are

worried about " how OPO representatives interact with families

reeling from the impending death of a loved one. Some

representatives delay identifying their role, either initially

letting families assume they are part of the hospital staff or being

vague, saying only that they are 'end-of-life' or 'grief'

counselors. " Advocates of organ procurement " argue that nothing is

done that would harm a potential donor, and that any testing is

aimed at saving families from agonizing about a donation only to

find out that their loved one was not eligible. "