Transplantation News

At the White House Organ Summit on June 13, the National Kidney Foundation announced a new collaboration with Johns Hopkins University and Novartis to nationally launch the Live Donor Champion Program. Developed by transplant surgeon Dr. Dorry Segev at Johns Hopkins University, the Live Donor Champion Program aims to overcome common barriers to finding a living kidney donor—a need for more education about living donation; and a reluctance to start a conversation about donation among transplant candidates.  Working with Johns Hopkins University and Novartis, National Kidney Foundation will use its networks to disseminate a set of educational resources to transplant centers nationwide.  The Champions program will teach people how to use their own personal connections and social networks to raise awareness about the need for kidney donors; and help to identify potential live donor candidates for a family member, friend or themselves.

iPhone users will be able to sign up to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor right from the Health app with the release of iOS 10. All registrations submitted from iPhone are sent directly to the National Donate Life Registry managed by Donate Life America, Apple said in a statement.  The ability to quickly and easily become a nationally-registered donor enables people to carry their decision with them wherever they go.

We hear the statistics every year about those needing an organ transplant. As we write this editorial, over 120,000 are on waiting lists around the country. It is a medical tragedy in our nation that so many people are uselessly suffering and many dying waiting for a life-saving organ because the proper organ donation system is not in place.

The University of California San Francisco Medical Center performed 356 kidney or kidney/pancreas transplants in 2015, the most out of all transplant centers in the United States. The center was also the busiest in 2014, when it performed 354 transplants, and in 2013, when it performed 357  transplants.

The National Kidney Foundation is collaborating with Johns Hopkins University and Novartis to launch the Live Donor Champion Program.  Developed by transplant surgeon Dr. Dorry Segev at Johns Hopkins University, the Live Donor Champion Program aims to overcome common barriers to finding a living kidney donor: a need for more education about living donation; and a reluctance to start a conversation about donation among transplant candidates.

The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center will launch a pilot program to pioneer kidney paired donation chains started via the military share program, in which families of active duty military service members donate one of their kidneys to patients listed for transplant at the medical center’s campus. Officials from the center announced the program at the White House Organ Summit June 13.

At the White House Organ Summit this morning, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) CEO Brian Shepard and Chief Medical Officer David Klassen, M.D. announced new technology and data tools to increase the number of transplants done in the United States.

UnitedHealthcare will pay travel expenses for kidney transplant donors. The announcement was made yesterday at the 2016 American Transplant Congress in Boston by Jon Friedman, MD, chief medical officer for Optum’s Complex Medical Conditions programs. Optum is the health services company that manages transplant services for UnitedHealthcare. Both companies are collaborating with the American Society of Transplantation (AST) and American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS), which hosted the congress, to improve outcomes, reduce costs and enhance the experience of donors and recipients.

The White House will host an Organ Summit. At the summit, the administration and private entities will announce a new set of actions that will build on the administration’s previous accomplishments to improve outcomes for individuals waiting for organ transplants and improve support for living donors. This event will be webcast live at www.whitehouse.gov/live. The event will take place Monday, June 13, from 10:30 am-12:30 pm EDT.

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., introduced legislation on May 26 that aims to clarify the legality of providing reimbursement to living organ donors. The Organ Donor Clarification Act of 2016 clarifies that pilot programs that provide non-cash incentives and reimbursements for expenses to organ donors are not preempted by federal criminal law.