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Officials Announce New Guidelines For Organ Transplants

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RALEIGH, N.C. — New safety measures for organ transplants were announced Friday to prevent future errors.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), as operator of the nationwide Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN), initiated a review of OPTN/UNOS policies and procedures for the matching and distribution of donated organs.

Under the new guidelines:

  • Blood type has to be verified by at least two staff members at both the procurement organization and the transplant hospital.
  • Transplant programs must check a donor's blood type when the organ arrives and compare it to the recipient.
  • No organ will be set asided for a patient unless it's been officially matched.
  • Records of verification must be kept for routine audits.
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