New allocation policy will save more lives
Fewer people will die waiting for an organ transplant, more children will receive a transplant and the geographic location of patients will be less important than how sick they are according to statistical modeling under the new liver and intestine distribution policy. Adopted by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Board of Directors in December 2018 and planned for implementation on Feb. 4, 2020 the policy is projected to reduce waitlist mortality by roughly 100 fewer deaths each year.
“Until the waitlist goes away, those of us involved in the nation’s donation and transplant system must strive to save more lives each year by reducing the number of patients who die while waiting,” said United Network for Organ Sharing CEO Brian Shepard. “The new liver allocation policy will help accomplish this goal.”
Read more from Shepard in an op-ed he wrote for InsideSources about the new policy.
