Organ Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative

AST is pleased to share the following information on the upcoming Organ Transplantation Breakthrough Collaborative. Click here for complete information.

AST "Transplantation 101" Briefing
AST Statements
AST Testimony and Hearing Information
AST Comments, Recommendations, and Response Letters
NIH
Policies and Guidelines
Grassroots/Member Tools or Actions Needed
How to Contact AST's Public Policy Staff
Internet Resources
AST Washington Round-Up Newsletters

AST "Transplantation 101" Briefing

• AST Invitation to Congress for Capitol Hill Briefing
• April 7th Invitation to Briefing

AST Statements

• AST Position Statement
• State Boundaries Should Not Become Barriers to Transplant Patients and Their Families

AST Testimony and Hearing Information

• Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-TN) and Senator Dodd (D-CT) Letter of Support for Transplant Funding (20 Senatorial Signatories)
• Congressmen Bilirakis (R-FL) and Inslee (D-WA) Letter of Support for Transplant Funding
• Dr. Ginny Bumgardner (AST Board Member and PP Committee Member) Testifies Before Congress on Transplant Funding
• Senators DeWine (R-OH) and Durbin (D-IL) Letter of Support for Transplant Funding
• AST Nominations for the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation
• Testimony of Ginny Bumgardner, MD, PhD and Trent Tipple, MD, before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies On Behalf of the Transplant Roundtable (April 2005)
• Testimony of AST Immediate Past President, Dr. William Harmon, before the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Clinical Research Involving Children (July 2003)
• Dr. Neylan's Testimony before The House Appropriations Subcommittee For Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (April 1999)
• Dr. Neylan's Testimony before The House Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment (April 1999)
• Dr. Harmon's Testimony before The National Academy Of Sciences Institute Of Medicine Committee On Organ Procurement And Transplantation Policy (March 1999)
• Dr. Neylan's testimony on VA-HUD (April 1998)
• Dr. Fauci's Testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee (April 1998)
• Dr. Neylan's Witness Testimony for The House Appropriation's Labor, HHS, and Education Subcommittee (March 1998)
• Enhancing Transplantation Medicine in the United States: Testimony from the American Society of Transplant Physicians (July 1997)
• Testimony Before the House Appropriations Committee on Funding for Transplant Research (April 1997)
• Statement of the ASTP to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Committee on Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives (February 1995)

AST Comments, Recommendations, and Response Letters

• HHS Press Release -- Protections for Human Research Subjects (May 2000)
• Organ Procurement and Transplant Network Act of 2000 (May 2000)
• WRITE CONGRESS! (May 2000)
• Comparison of Managed Care Legislation (March 1999)
• Increase Organ Donation in the United States (July 1998)
• Sample Letter to Congress on Medicare Conditions of Participation for Hospitals re: Reporting of Deaths to Organ Procurement Organizations (July 1998)
• Medical Research To Get More Money From Government (January 1998)
• HHS Press Release: Organ transplant recipients' survival rates improve nationwide. (December 1997)
• ASTP's response to rumored final rule making for the OPTN by DHHS. (November 1997)
• Response letter to the FDA public commentary period on drug trails for pediatric patients. (November 1997)
• Response letter to the public commentary period on proposed modifications to UNOS Policy 3.5.9. (September 1997)
• Response to the ASTP comment on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for preventing transmission of immuno-deficiency virus by transplant of human tissue and organs (June 1995)
• Comment on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for preventing transmission of immuno-deficiency virus by transplant of human tissue and organs (February 1995)
• Comment on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) interim rules for organ procurement organizations (October 1994)
• Recommendations for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) point system for donor kidney allocation (October 1994)
• Comments on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed rules for the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) (October 1994)
• Comment on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) statement of principles and objectives of equitable organ allocation (January 1994)

NIH

• Please note new address for Stephen M. Rose, Ph.D., Stephen M. Rose, Ph.D.,Chief, Genetics and Transplantation Branch,Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH (October 1999)
• Action Alert on NIH Funding (March 1999)
• NIH/FDA Biomarkers and Surrogate Endpoints: Advancing Clinical Research and Applications Conference -- Web Site
• NIH Funding -- Call for Action (September 1998)
• Transplantation effort at NIAID (September 1998)
• Help Promote the Increase of NIH Funding (June 1999)

Policies and Guidelines

• Claims Processing Instructions for Pancreas Transplantation (May 1999)
• Final rule to govern OPTN (October 1998)
• Publication of final rule to govern the operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN)
• CDC Guidelines for Prevention of Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Organ Donation (November 1996)

Grassroots/Member Tools or Actions Needed

• Sponsoring a Congressional Tour (February 1998)
• Senate Managed Care Wrap-up (July 1999)

How to Contact AST's Public Policy Staff

Internet Resources

The following are some useful Internet resources to help you keep abreast of policymaking activities:

U.S. Government

• U.S. Congress (THOMAS Legislative Information)
• Contacting the Congress
• AAMC
• Department of Veteran's Affairs
• The White House (Briefing Room updated regularly with press information, statistics, Saturday radio address, etc.)
• U.S. Government Printing Office
• U.S. General Accounting Office
• Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)
• National Institutes of Health
• Centers for Disease Control (includes Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)

  News Services

• CNN Health (updated daily)
  Reuters Health Information Services (updated daily)

AST Washington Round-Up Newsletters Archives