Organ transplant board calls for review of child policy, creates new appeal system

A panel of officials that decides matters on organ transplants called Monday for a review of the guidelines for issuing organs to children and created a special appeals process after two cases of children who need lung transplants drew congressional and judicial attention.

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Lung Transplant Vote Aims For Medical And Legal Balance On Life And Death Issues
Faced with a federal judge's order in the heart-wrenching cases of two terminally ill children who are seeking lung transplants, a national review board sought a balance that will keep such decisions in the hands of doctors, not lawyers or judges. The executive committee of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network held an emergency teleconference Monday evening and resisted making rule changes for children under 12 seeking lung transplants, but created a special appeal and review system to hear such cases (6/11).

Politico: Transplant Panel Orders Policy Review
The national panel that sets organ donation policy on Monday ordered a yearlong review of the guidelines for allocating lungs to dying children -- but also allowed for a case-by-case review by an expert panel in the interim. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network made the decision at an unusual emergency session. The cases of two seriously ill children hospitalized in Philadelphia have drawn congressional attention to the policy and prompted a highly unusual intervention by a federal judge after the families sued the U.S. government and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (Norman, 6/10).