Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'It’s Time To Get A Look Behind The Curtain': Lawmakers Call For Increased Oversight Of U.S. Transplant Network
The Washington Post: Lawmaker Demands Reform Of Transplant Network After Washington Post Stories
Sen. Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) said Thursday he would introduce legislation next year calling for greater oversight of the U.S. transplant network, contending 10,000 people die annually in a system that is allowed to hide its flaws from the public and Congress. His announcement followed stories published Thursday in The Washington Post that said the transplant industry could more than double the number of organs available for transplant each year if it expanded efforts to collect and use organs from older and nontraditional donors, such as people with hepatitis C. (Bernstein and Kindy, 12/20)
Modern Healthcare: Congress Eyes Intervention In U.S. Organ Sharing Policy
The board of the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, which is charged with overseeing organ allocation policy, made the change. UNOS works on behalf of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, or the OPTN. The OPTN is a not-for-profit organization that contracts with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration to manage the complicated, sprawling system. Representatives of all those with a stake in the policy make up the UNOS board—from transplant surgeons to transplant recipients and organ donors and organ procurement organizations. But because the policy debate pits regions against one another, UNOS members have remained gridlocked over any substantial modifications to the current system that left some regions with a steady shortfall. (Luthi, 12/20)
The Washington Post: Organ Transplant Shortage Could Be Fixed By Expanding Donor Pool
After a week of tests, the doctors came to Angela Sroufe with tragic news: Her 30-year-old daughter, Amie Woodward, was brain-dead from a heroin overdose. Reluctantly, Sroufe agreed to donate her daughter’s organs. As Woodward’s ventilator continued to click, her heart monitor continued to beep and her blood continued to circulate, keeping her organs viable, Sroufe sat combing her daughter’s hair, waiting for the transplant surgeon. (Kindy, Bernstein and Keating, 12/20)
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill —
Stat: Lawmakers Push To Renew Pandemic Preparedness Bill
The House passed a long-stalled public health bill Thursday, sending it to the Senate in a last-ditch attempt to get the law passed before the end of the year. The bill is actually a combination of two different pieces of legislation: one that helps the government respond to public health emergencies, and another that changes the way the Food and Drug Administration regulates over-the-counter drugs. (Swetlitz, 12/20)
CQ: House Passes Health Bills Held Up By Senate GOP Pair
The House on Thursday passed, 367-9, a measure combining two bipartisan health bills that stalled in the Senate, in an optimistic effort to finish work on the legislation before departing for the year. The new bill (HR 7328) packages two measures the House previously passed this year: one to renew billions of dollars in programs related to preparing for large-scale health emergencies (HR 6378) and another to overhaul how the Food and Drug Administration regulates over-the-counter medicines (HR 5333). (Siddons, 12/20)
