News
HOPE Act Signed into Law
American Society of Transplant Surgeons President-Elect Peter G. Stock, MD, PhD (at left), was among those present at the White House on November 21 as President Obama signed the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act into law.
The HOPE Act reverses the current legal ban, enacted in 1988, on the use of HIV-positive organs for HIV-positive individuals in need of a donor organ. The ban has been eclipsed by medical science, including significant advances in HIV treatment. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Andy Harris (R-MD) were the bills' lead sponsors, and Rep. Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX) also played a pivotal role in its passage.
ASTS President Alan N. Langnas, DO, said, "In times of political gridlock and impasse, we were delighted to work with our Congressional champions and a community of advocates whose tireless efforts paid off today for patients and physicians who serve them."
Dr. Stock, the principal investigator on the NIH study on this subject, said, "I was honored to represent the surgeons, physicians, and most importantly the patients who proved the safety and efficacy of transplantation in people infected with HIV, in turn leading to this bill."
ASTS members Dorry Segev, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, and Brian Boyarsky developed data on which the bill is based. Their research results were published in the American Journal of Transplantation in June 2011.
ASTS worked with the American Society of Nephrology, HIV Medicine Association, American Society of Transplantation, and patient advocate Shamey Cramer to educate Congress about the medical science and research behind this bill. ASTS has as one of its goals to increase organ donation and supported this bill in an effort to maximize the availability of organs for life-saving transplant procedures.