NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under both the Academy’s 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

Support for this project was provided by the General Accounting Office (Contract No. N00014-98-1-0789) and the Greenwall Foundation (Award No. 3302). The views presented in this report are those of the Committee on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy and are not necessarily those of the funding organizations.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Institute of Medicine (U.S.). Committee on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy.

Organ procurement and transplantation : assessing current policies and the potential impact of the DHHS final rule / Committee on Organ Procurement and Transplantation Policy, Division of Health Sciences Policy, Institute of  Medicine.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Procurement of organs, tissues, etc.--Law and legislation--United States. 2. Transplantation of organs, tissues, etc.--Law and legislation--United States. I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Organ Procurement--legislation & jurisprudence--United States. 2. Health Services Accessibility--United States. 3. Organ Transplantation--legislation & jurisprudence–United  States. 4. Tissue  Donors–legislation &  jurisprudence--United States. WO 690 I59o 1999]

RD129.5 .I57 1999

362.1'783'0973--dc21

99-044515

The full text of this report is available on-line at www.nap.edu/readingroom. For more information about the Institute of Medicine, visit the IOM home page at www.iom.edu.

The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is based on a relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatliche Museen in Berlin.