Ethics Committee
The Ethics Committee aims to guide the policies and practices of the OPTN related to organ donation, procurement, distribution, allocation, and transplantation so they are consistent with ethical principles. The Committee makes recommendations to Board of Directors for changing, creating, or eliminating policies if warranted by ethical concerns. The Committee also provides written guidance pertaining to ethical considerations to OPTN members, after approval by the Board of Directors. The Committee does not address individual patient issues or disputes.
Current Projects
Review
Implemented
- Ethical Analysis of Normothermic Regional Perfusion
- Ethical Considerations of Continuous Distribution in Organ Allocation (2/2022)
- Transparency in Program Selection (1/2023)
- Revise General Considerations In Assessment for Transplant Candidacy (7/2021)
- Ethical implications of multi organ transplants (1/2019)
- White paper on manipulating waitlist priority (1/2018)
- Living donation by persons with certain fatal diseases (7/2017)
- Ethical considerations of imminent death donation (8/2016)
- Ethics of deceased organ recovery white paper (8/2016)
- Split versus whole liver transplantation white paper (8/2016)
Chair
- Dr. Andrew Flescher
- University Hospital of State University of New York at Stony Brook
Vice Chair
- Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni
- Yale New Haven Hospital
Liaison
- Emily Ward
- UNOS Employee
- emily.ward@unos.org
| Members | Organization | Position | End Term Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Oluwafisayo O Adebiyi | Indiana University Health | Region 10 Representative | 6/30/2028 |
| Ms. Sheila Nichols Bullock | General Public Region 11 | Region 11 Representative | 6/30/2027 |
| Gloria Chen | General Public Region 4 | Region 4 Representative | 6/30/2028 |
| Jennifer Dillon | General Public Region 9 | Region 9 Representative | 6/30/2026 |
| Laura J Jokimaki | Ascension St. John Hospital | At Large | 6/30/2027 |
| Dr. Grace S Lee-Riddle | University Hospital | Region 2 Representative | 6/30/2027 |
| Laura Madigan-McCown | General Public Region 1 | At Large | 6/30/2028 |
| Lisa A Paolillo | New England Organ Bank | Region 1 Representative | 6/30/2027 |
| Lois Shepherd | University of Virginia Health Sciences Center | At Large | 6/30/2026 |
| Dr. Robert D Truog | General Public Region 1 | At Large | 6/30/2026 |
| Ms. Megan Urbanski | Emory University Hospital | Region 3 Representative | 6/30/2026 |
| Ms. Felicia Wells-Williams | Legacy of Life Hawaii | Region 6 Representative | 6/30/2026 |
| Dr. Matthew B Wilkinson | St Luke's Hospital of Kansas City | Region 8 Representative | 6/30/2026 |
| Ms. Sena A Wilson-Sheehan | Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona | Region 5 Representative | 6/30/2028 |
| Joel Wu | General Public Region 7 | Region 7 Representative | 6/30/2028 |
- June 26, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 148 K)
- May 15, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 127 K)
- April 2, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 140 K)
- March 20, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 119 K)
- February 20, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 120 K)
- January 16, 2025 Ethics (PDF - 121 K)
- December 19, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 135 K)
- November 21, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 143 K)
- October 16, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 171 K)
- September 26, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 117 K)
- September 19, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 125 K)
- August 22, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 119 K)
- August 15, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 145 K)
- July 18, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 128 K)
- June 20, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 116 K)
- May 16, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 120 K)
- April 18, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 117K)
- March 14, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 207 K)
- February 15, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 180 K)
- February 1, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 123 K)
- January 4, 2024 Ethics (PDF - 117 K)
- December 21, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 116 K)
- November 16, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 155 K)
- October 19, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 122 K)
- October 10, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 188 K)
- October 5, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 179 K)
- September 14, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 118 K)
- August 17, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 125 K)
- July 20, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 178 K)
- June 8, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 115 K)
- May 11, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 119 K)
- April 20, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 149 K)
- March 31, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 271 K)
- March 2, 2023 Ethics - NRP Workgroup (PDF - 140 K)
- February 16, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 151 K)
- January 26, 2023 Ethics - NRP Workgroup (PDF - 110 K)
- January 19, 2023 Ethics (PDF - 192K)
Reports to the Board of Directors
- June 2019: Ethical Implications of Multi-Organ Transplants (PDF - 1 M)
- December 2016: Guidance on Imminent Death Donation (PDF - 136 K)
- December 2016: Guidance on Split Versus Whole Liver Transplantation (PDF - 490 K)
For historical versions of OPTN documents, please contact PCRACRequest@unos.org.