Organ Transplant Rules Tightened

By Laura Meckler

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Donated organs may no longer be given to patients who aren't on a computer list of matches, the nation's transplant network said Friday, ending a long-standing informal practice after the death of a 17-year-old girl who received organs with the wrong blood type.

The change came after an investigation into the case of Jesica Santillan, who died in February after a botched heart-lung transplant.

The United Network for Organ Sharing concluded that none of the organizations involved in her transplant violated the network's policies. The policies require that blood types be confirmed before transplants occur but do not specify who is responsible for checking.

"We were all sort of shocked because we did go into it expecting, surely, policy must have been violated," said Shirley Schlessinger, medical director for the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, who served on the investigative panel.

The network agreed Friday to a set of tougher, more detailed policies that would make clear who is responsible for double-checking that blood types match. Its new rules require that blood type be verified by at least four different staff members, two at the organ recovery agency and two at the transplant hospital.

In addition, transplant programs must check the blood type when the organ arrives and also compare it directly to the potential recipient's blood type.

The network, which runs the matching system under a contract with the federal government, also agreed to require that all of the patients receiving organs are listed on the computerized match.

In 2002, there were 256 transplants performed for patients not on the lists generated for those donor organs, Schlessinger said.

The most critical change in transplant policy regards use of the computerized list of waiting patients, known as the "match run."

Copyright © 2003 The Salt Lake Tribune.

This article posted July 9, 2003.