Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Second Human Patient Has Received A Transplanted Pig Heart
The New York Times: Genetically Modified Pig’s Heart Is Transplanted Into A Second Patient
Surgeons in Baltimore have transplanted the heart of a genetically altered pig into a man with terminal heart disease who had no other hope for treatment, the University of Maryland Medical Center announced on Friday. It is the second such procedure performed by the surgeons. The first patient, David Bennett, 57, died two months after his transplant, but the pig heart functioned well and there were no signs of acute organ rejection, a major risk in such procedures. (Caryn Rabin, 9/22)
AP: Surgeons Perform Second Pig Heart Transplant, Trying To Save A Dying Man
“You know, I just keep shaking my head – how am I talking to someone who has a pig heart?” Dr. Bartley Griffith, who performed the transplant, told The Associated Press. He said doctors are feeling “a great privilege but, you know, a lot of pressure.” The same Maryland team last year performed the world’s first transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into another dying man, David Bennett, who survived just two months. (Neergaard, 9/22)
Meanwhile, in news on the organ transplant system —
Modern Healthcare: Organ Transplant System Overhaul Bill Signed By Biden
President Joe Biden triggered a major transformation of the national system for allocating human organs for transplant by signing a bipartisan bill Friday. The new law enables the Health Resources and Services Administration to seek bids from multiple for-profit and nonprofit organizations to participate in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, which effectively ends nearly four decades of sole control by the United Network for Organ Sharing, known as UNOS. Proponents say this remade system will improve safety and more fairly distribute organs. (Berryman, 9/22)
Axios: Revamped Organ Transplant System Faces Funding Questions
America's troubled organ transplant system is officially set for its first makeover in decades, but unresolved questions about funding could affect how swiftly reforms take hold, America's top health official said. (Goldman, 9/25)
