HRSA rule to allow people with HIV to donate organs to people with HIV

The Health Resources and Services Administration Friday published a final rule allowing the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to acquire organs from people with HIV for transplant into people who already have HIV and are participating in clinical research, as required by the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act of 2013. According to OPTN, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is leading the development of research criteria for programs that plan to transplant HIV-positive organs into HIV-positive recipients, which will provide a framework for clinical studies to begin possibly as early as 2016. At its June 1-2 meeting, the OPTN/United Network for Organ Sharing Board of Directors expects to consider a set of OPTN policies to allow the recovery and transplantation of kidneys and livers from HIV-positive donors, with specific patient safety measures intended to assure that the organs are only used for HIV-positive candidates.