The federal government has launched an effort to determine if the time has come to include vascularized composite allografts such as hand and face transplants to the number of organs covered by regulations governing the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
In an announcement in the March 3 Federal Register, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced it is seeking feedback from transplantation stakeholders and the general public on the following issues:
(1) Whether vascularized composite allografts should be included with the definition of organs covered by the regulations governing ...