Special comment period for Expedited Placement Variance

Published on: Thursday, December 21, 2023

The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) plans to release a series of proposed policies for public comment next month. Currently, OPTN seeks feedback on the “Expedited Placement Variance.” The special public comment period for the variance will begin December 21 and end February 4, 2024. To read the full proposal and offer comments, click here.

The OPTN Executive Committee is issuing this proposal for a thirty-day public comment period, which is shorter than the usual public comment period. This may allow the variance, if supported, to take effect sooner than the end of regular public comment but allow the community time to comment on the proposed variance. It also is in line with the public comment periods for emergency and expedited policy changes.

In September 2023, the OPTN Board of Directors authorized creation of the Expeditious Task Force, to study and advance ways to improve efficiency in the organ donation and transplant system. A key approach to the task force initiatives is to develop, apply and study small-scale trials that may increase organ usage and decrease placement of organs out of the allocation sequence. The proposal recommends: 1) a new variance related to expedited organ placement, and 2) a mechanism to facilitate more rapid studies of potential improvement.

The proposed variance also sets requirements for each protocol and calls for the protocols to be publicly available. The OPTN will post these protocols online so that the community can comment on proposed protocols under consideration, as well as protocols approved by the OPTN Executive Committee.

For more information regarding the task force, view the task force web page on the OPTN website.