Article: State awaits decision on organ-sharing policy

A proposed new national system of distributing donated human organs could seriously affect Hawaii patients, depending on the guidelines, Hawaii organ and transplant officials say.

For now, "It's still up in the air," said Robyn Kaufman, Organ Donor Center of Hawaii director.

Donna Shalala, secretary of Health and Human Services, and congressional members have agreed on a new organ-sharing regulation that has been debated and disputed since she proposed a change early last year.

But how it's going to work hasn't been determined.

"I don't even know if I understand it yet," said Donna Pacheco, heart and liver transplant coordinator at St. Francis Medical Center. "It is so ambiguous."

The ...

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