Jay Lackritz
Forum Leader
Username: Jay_ny
Post Number: 593
Registered: 01-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2014 - 09:30 pm: | 
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You might remember the controversy last year when a child was originally denied a lung transplant due to UNOS policy.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/06/05/2104921/sarah-murnaghan-denied-lung-transplant/
And, UNOS temporarily changed their policies to give priority to children waiting for lungs, which require adult lungs to be sectioned to fit.
Well.... UNOS is in the process of making the temporary changes permanent with some minor modifications.
This policy change is up for public comment until June 13.
Here are details, and links to find out how to comment.
Thoracic Organ Transplantation Committee: Proposal for Adolescent Classification Exception for Pediatric Lung Candidates *
Proposal (292 K)
On June 10, 2013, the OPTN/UNOS Executive Committee approved a temporary policy permitting lung candidates less than 12 years old to request an exception from the Lung Review Board (LRB) to be classified as an adolescent candidate for the purposes of prioritization by lung allocation score (LAS). Unless further action is taken by the Board of Directors, the "adolescent classification exception" will expire on July 1, 2014. Because the temporary policy permits young pediatric lung candidates who may be suitable for lung offers from larger donors to apply for an exception, the Thoracic Committee proposes removing the July 1, 2014 deadline from the policy, making some modifications to the temporary policy, and making a permanent policy change. The Thoracic Committee also proposes additional language to clarify the data reporting requirements for candidates with approved adolescent classification exceptions. The Thoracic Committee hopes to continue increased access to organs by providing an opportunity for uniquely situated pediatric candidates to gain increased priority for an older and larger donor pool, thereby reducing the rate of waiting list mortality for pediatric candidates.
Full proposal document:
http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/PublicComment/pubcommentPropSub_345.pdf
Scroll down to proposal #17 to submit a comment:
http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/policiesAndBylaws/publicComment/proposals.asp
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