About TRIOMission StatementMay 14, 1998 TRIO calls for expeditious implementation of new regulations for organ transplant.Transplant Recipients International Organization, Inc. (TRIO) today expressed disappointment with delayed implementation of the revisions in the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN), stating the delay will only hurt patients awaiting life-saving transplants and divert resources needed to address the real crisis - stagnant organ donation. Revised regulations, announced in March by Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, were scheduled to become effective July 1. Congressional action has delayed their implementation until at least October 1. TRIO, representing the interests of transplant candidates, recipients, donors and their families throughout the United States, has come out strongly in support of reforms in the nations transplantation system. TRIO President Bruce Weir said patients waiting for an organ transplant will benefit from revisions to the current system, under which ten transplant candidates die daily before receiving a life-saving organ. Weir expressed dismay that valuable resources are being sapped fighting reform - resources that would be better spent developing and implementing new strategies to increase organ donation. The energy and resources currently being employed to resist reform should be channeled into efforts to increase the number of organ donors, thus mitigating the current imbalance between those awaiting transplantation and the available organs. Currently more than 58,000 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant. Ten will die each day while waiting under the existing rules. The need for reform should be obvious. The current system is simply unfair, said Weir, who on July 11 will celebrate the tenth anniversary of his heart transplant. There should only be one interest driving the current debate on the organ allocation system, and that is the patients interest. The Secretary embraced a patient-first principle in her call for modifications, and we support that. Politics and financial struggles between transplant centers should have no role in this issue. Whereas there is serious debate concerning how to best maximize the use of life- saving organs, there are many other important reforms in the new regulations that should be implemented immediately. For example, there should be standard criteria for evaluating and placing transplant candidates on the organ waiting list, no matter where in the U.S. the patient lives. There should also be uniform criteria nationally for changing candidates status on the waiting list. These and other important administrative reforms should not be held hostage to a resolution of the contentious allocation issue. Under the current system, transplant centers establish their own criteria for placing candidates on the waiting list and evaluating their status. The criteria varies greatly from center to center and the status of the patient is not well-defined. In addition, when an organ becomes available, it is first offered to patients within a specific geographic area which may have no medical validity, but which has been artificially created by lines drawn on a map of the U.S. This has often produced scenarios in which a candidate who has been waiting for an organ for weeks in one part of the country may receive an organ before a candidate who is considerably more ill who has been waiting months or even years in a different region - perhaps even close by - but in a different organ allocation region. TRIO believes that rather than inserting new political pressure into the management of transplantation issues, Congress should take steps to improve the organ transplant system by passing pending measures such as The Immunosuppressive Drugs Coverage Act (originally as S. 1481/HR 1061 were re-introduced as S. 631/HR 1115 in 1999) to ensure that transplant recipients have access to vital anti-rejection medication, thereby reducing the need for retransplant. Few issues in the nation are literally as life-and-death as organ sharing, explained Weir. The principle guiding this debate should be what is right, fair and equitable for the transplant candidates, recipients and donors. The reforms in the new regulations should be implemented now. Transplant Recipients International Organization, Inc., founded in 1983, is an independent, not- for-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life of transplant candidates, recipients, their families and the families of organ and tissue donors. With more than 4,000 members and nearly 50 chapters internationally, TRIO works to increase awareness about the need to donate organs and tissues, support and educate transplant candidates, recipients, donors and their families, as well as to advocate on their behalf. Return to top |
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