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Impact of COVID

Sussman, J. (2020). (rep.). COVID-19: Effect on Organ Donation and Transplantation. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11345

This Insight provides background information on the organ donation and transplantation system, summarizes action taken to respond to COVID-19 by the organ transplant community, and identifies potential issues for Congress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of transplants performed per week and the number of deceased donors recovered per week decreased considerably which in turn can affect performance reviews for some transplant centers and OPOs.

Merola, J., Schilsky, M. L., & Mulligan, D. C. (2020). The Impact of COVID‐19 on Organ Donation, Procurement, and Liver Transplantation in the United States. Hepatology Communications, 5(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep4.1620

This article summarizes the negative effectives of the COVID-19 pandemic on organ recovery and liver transplantation, as well as offer considerations and strategies for their mitigation even after the COVID-19 pandemic has waned. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital bed and ventilator shortages, as well as staffing shortages made demands for potential organ donor evaluation challenging. Additionally, availability of blood products at times was limited due to decreased donation rates in areas affected by COVID-19. Hospital visitor restrictions of family members or next-of-kin posed a barrier to obtaining timely donation consent. Additional challenges are identified in this article.

Additional Information

Bouffard, K. (2018, August 6). How a Surgeon Helped Solve the Problem of Far Too Few Black Organ Donors. Center for Health Journalism. https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/2018/08/03/how-surgeon-helped-solve-problem-far-too-few-black-organ-donors.

This article details Clive Callender’s efforts to identify barriers to organ donation within the black community. Additionally, the article goes on to describe a program he established to increase minority organ donation in Washington, D.C. based on his findings on the barriers to organ donation.

Mulligan, D. C. (2020, November 23). CMS's New Rules on Organ Donation and Transplantation 'Will Bring Chaos'. Stat. https://www.statnews.com/2020/11/23/organ-donation-transplantation-new-rules-will-bring-chaos/

This opinion piece warns of the consequences of CMS’s new rule around organ donation and transplantation. Mulligan identifies issues with the rule, including the closure of OPOs and the rules’ inability to address disincentives for OPOs to compete in different service areas.