Justice department finds paired donation consistent with federal law

Published on: Thursday, April 5, 2007

The U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) has concluded that paired exchanges of living donor kidney transplants, and living donor transplants for increased priority in deceased donor allocation, do not count as "valuable consideration" under the terms of the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, as amended (NOTA). This opinion was expressed in a memorandum to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services dated March 28.

The memorandum addresses relevant provisions from NOTA, as well as references to "valuable consideration" in other federal legislation, common law and case law. The OLC's opinion concludes that paired exchanges and living donor transplants for increased priority in deceased donor allocation do not involve "valuable consideration" and are therefore not prohibited under NOTA. The published opinion is binding on U.S. Attorney's offices throughout the country.