Debate opens on how to allocate scarce livers

December 10, 1996
Web posted at: 8:15 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three days of federal hearings opened Tuesday on proposals to change the way the nation's medical system distributes scarce livers for urgent transplants.

Patients, surgeons, hospital officials, organ donor groups and medical economists are testifying at the hearings being held by the Department of Health and Human Services.

One potentially pivotal proposal would put patients with sudden-liver failure ahead of those with chronic liver disease. Supporters of the change say people who suffer sudden failure are more likely to survive.

It's a matter of getting the organs to patients with a more likely chance of recovery, said Dr. James Burdick, a transplant surgeon at Johns Hopkins and head of the United Network for Organ Sharing.

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But others contend the new rules will penalize chronically ill liver patients, even if they are sick enough to need intensive hospital care. That could mean many of them will die, said Dr. John Fung, a University of Pittsburgh transplant surgeon.

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Much of the debate also concerns regional borders. As it stands, when an organ is donated, nearby hospitals get priority. Critics say the result is that patients in some parts of the country wait 20 times longer than others.

Livers for transplants are in short supply. There are about 4,000 available each year for 7,000 people who are waiting. Last year, more than 800 liver patients died before they could have a transplant.

Correspondent Andrew Holtz and Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Related stories:

• Debate opens over organ allocations - December 10, 1996
• Kidney donor must now stand in line for kidney of her own - March 12, 1996
• Heart-helping pumps promise to ease need for transplants - February 28, 1996
• Pig livers may offer hope of transplants - October 2, 1995

Related sites:

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• University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• United Network for Organ Sharing

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