U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
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
Board approved and pending implementation
- Ethical Considerations of Continuous Distribution in Organ Allocation
- Revise General Considerations In Assessment for Transplant Candidacy
Implemented
- 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. Keren Ladin
- General Public Region 1
Vice Chair
- Dr. Andrew Flescher
- General Public Region 9
Liaison
- Laura Schmitt
- UNOS Employees
- laura.schmitt@unos.org
| Members | Organization | Position | End Term Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Melissa D Anderson | General Public Region 10 | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2024 |
| Dr. George Bayliss | Rhode Island Hospital | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2023 |
| Dr. David W Bearl | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2023 |
| Dr. Lynsey S Biondi | West Virginia University Hospitals Inc. | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2023 |
| Dr. James S Bowman | Division of Transplantation, HHS | Ex Officio (non voting) | 6/30/2023 |
| Dr. Ivan (Glenn) Cohen | General Public Region 1 | At Large | 6/30/2022 |
| Mr. Earnest J Davis | General Public Region 10 | Visiting Board Member | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Amy L Friedman | LiveOnNY | At Large | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Thao N Galvan | CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor College of Medicine Medical Center | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2024 |
| Dr. Roshan P George | Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Sanjay Kulkarni | Yale New Haven Hospital | At Large | 6/30/2023 |
| Dr. Marilyn E Levi | Division of Transplantation, HHS | Ex Officio (non voting) | 6/30/2023 |
| Mrs. Tania M Lyons | General Public Region 9 | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Colleen J Reed | General Public Region 8 | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Ehab R Saad | Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2024 |
| Dr. Carrie Thiessen | University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics | At Large | 6/30/2024 |
| Ms. Catherine E Vascik | AdventHealth Orlando | At Large | 6/30/2022 |
| Dr. Aaron Wightman | Seattle Children's Hospital | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2022 |
| Ms. Sena A Wilson-Sheehan | Mayo Clinic Hospital Arizona | Regional Rep. | 6/30/2024 |
Meeting Summaries
- December 16, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 233 K)
- November 23, 2021 Ethics - Transparency in Program Selection Workgroup (PDF - 183 K)
- November 18, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 147 K)
- October 29, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 159 K)
- October 28, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 160 K)
- October 21, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 682 K)
- September 23, 2021 Ethics - Transparency in Program Selection Workgroup (PDF - 562 K)
- September 21, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 593 K)
- August 26, 2021 Ethics - Transparency in Program Selection Workgroup (PDF - 577 K)
- August 19, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 717 K)
- July 29, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 688 K)
- July 15, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 592 K)
- July 9, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 686 K)
- June 17, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 602 K)
- June 16, 2021 Ethics - Transparency in Program Selection Workgroup (PDF - 702 K)
- May 20, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 622 K)
- April 28, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 632 K)
- April 15, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 740 K)
- March 24, 2021 CAT Rewrite Subcommittee (PDF - 741 K)
- March 11, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 820 K)
- February 18, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 765 K)
- January 21, 2021 Ethics (PDF - 748 K)
- December 17, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 523 K)
- November 18, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 243 K)
- October 15, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 225 K)
- October 7, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 318 K)
- September 17, 2020 Ethics (PDF 550 K)
- September 16. 2020 CAT Rewrite Subcommittee (PDF - 500 K)
- August 20, 2020 Ethics (PDF 210)
- August 19, 2020 CAT Rewrite Subcommittee (PDF - 620 K)
- August 4, 2020 Facilitating Patient Navigation (PDF - 420 K)
- July 16, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 463 K)
- July 16, 2020 CAT Rewrite Subcommittee (PDF - 340 K)
- July 7, 2020 Facilitating Patient Navigation (PDF - 469 K)
- June 18, 2020 Ethics (PDF - 706 K)
- June 17, 2020 CAT Rewrite (PDF - 451 K)
- May 21, 2020 (PDF - 566 K)
- May 20, 2020 (PDF - 562 K)
- May 5, 2020 (PDF - 203 K)
- April 15, 2020 (PDF - 430 K)
- March 19, 2019 (PDF 250 - K)
- March 18, 2019 (PDF - 482 K)
- March 10, 2020 (PDF - 420 K)
- February 20, 2020 (PDF - 330 K)
- February 19, 2020 (PDF - 145 K)
- February 12, 2020 (PDF - 220 K)
- January 16, 2020 (PDF - 113 K)
- January 15, 2020 (PDF - 120 K)
- January 7, 2020 (PDF - 110 K)
- December 19, 2019 (PDF - 124 K)
- December 18, 2019 (PDF - 192 K)
- November 21, 2019 (PDF - 152 K)
- October 15, 2019 (PDF - 650 K)
- September 19, 2019 (PDF - 192 K)
- August 15, 2019 (PDF - 494 K)
- July 18, 2019 (PDF - 586 KB)
- June 19, 2019 (PDF - 203 K)
- May 16, 2019 (PDF - 176 K)
- April 8, 2019 (PDF - 125 K)
- March 21, 2019 (PDF - 127 K)
- February 21, 2019 (PDF - 91K)
- January 17, 2019 (PDF - 56K)
- December 20, 2018 (PDF - 76 K)
- November 29, 2018 (PDF - 21 K)
- October 29, 2018 (PDF - 233 K)
- August 2018 (PDF - 92 K)
- April 2018 (PDF - 597 K)
- March 15, 2018 (PDF - 591 K)
- March 1, 2018 (PDF - 109 K)
- February 2018 (PDF - 560 K)
- January 2018 (PDF - 501 K)
- November 2017 (PDF - 479 K)
- October 2017 (PDF - 503 K)
- September 2017 (PDF - 485 K)
- August 2017 (PDF - 499 K)
- July 2017 (PDF - 483 K)
- June 2017 (PDF - 51 K)
- May 2017 (PDF - 518 K)
- April 2017 (PDF - 541 K)
- March 2017 (PDF - 479 K)
- February 2017 (PDF - 226 K)
- December 2016 (PDF - 501 K)
- September 2016 (PDF - 499 K)
- March 2016 (PDF - 612 K)
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 vs. whole liver (PDF - 490 K)
Looking for something else? Contact us at unoscommunications@unos.org or (804) 782-4800. We maintain an archive of historical OPTN documents.
