AASLD supports Living Donor Protection Act of 2017

The Living Donor Protection Act of 2017, designed to promote living organ donation and protect living organ donors from discrimination, was recently introduced to Congress. Many professional organizations support the bill’s passing, including the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease.

Rohit S. Satoskar

“There continues to be a shortage of organs for the amount of need there is in the U.S., and one way of addressing the organ shortage is to increase living organ donation,” Rohit S. Satoskar, MD, from the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute and chair of AASLD’s Public Policy Committee, told Healio.com/Hepatology. “Any methods we can use to educate people about the benefits of living organ donation and remove barriers to living organ donation will overall help our population.”

According to Satoskar, physicians performed over 7,000 liver transplants in 2016. However, many patients died on the waitlist and more never made it to the waitlist. “There is clearly a problem of supply and demand for patients with liver disease,” he said, “and the same is true for other organs, for kidney transplant too.” Satoskar added that approximately only 5% of liver transplants are from living donors, whereas the rest are from cadaveric donors.

The Living Donor Protection Act of 2017 consists of three main objectives:

1. Prohibit life or long-term care insurance companies from denying, cancelling, altering coverage, or increasing premiums for living organ donors.

2. Amend the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to include and cover living organ donation as a serious health condition.

3. Require the Department of Health and Human Services to update public service announcements, websites and media to educate the public on the benefits of living organ donation and available access to insurance after live organ donation.

“I think probably the biggest barrier to living organ donation at this point, for all organs, is really education,” Satoskar said. “I think it would be huge to have a start like that at the top, coming from the secretary of HHS. Currently a lot of these outreach efforts occur more at the level of institutions and professional societies, but I think to get that kind of direction from the government would have a lot of impact.”

Satoskar concluded that the AASLD is supportive of the bill and spoke with legislators during the seventh annual Liver Capitol Hill Day this past March, advocating for its passing. – by Talitha Bennett

Reference:

Living Donor Protection Act of 2017, HR 1270, 115th Congress, 1st Sess. www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1270. Accessed Sept. 26, 2017.

Disclosure: Satoskar reports no relevant financial disclosures.