PART V—BOARDS, ADMINISTRATIONS, AND

SERVICES

CHAPTER 72-UNITED STATES COURT OF VETERANS APPEALS

Subchapter I-Organization and Jurisdiction

§ 7253. Composition (a)* *

*

(b) The chief judge and the associate judges of the Court shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, solely on the grounds of fitness to perform the duties of the office. A person may not be appointed to the Court who is not a member in good standing of the bar of a Federal court or of the highest court of a State. Not more than the number equal to the next whole number great than one-half of the number of judges of the Court may be members of the same political party.

Subchapter II-Procedure

§ 7266. Notice of appeal

(a)(1) In order to obtain review by the Court of Veterans Appeals of a final decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, a person adversely affected by [that action must] such decision shall file a notice of appeal with the [Court. Any such notice must be filed] Court within 120 days after the date on which notice of the decision is mailed pursuant to section 7104(e) of this title.

(2) An appellant shall file a notice of appeal under this section by delivering or mailing the notice to the Court.

(3) A notice of appeal shall be deemed to be received by the Court as follows:

(A) On the date of receipt by the Court, if the notice is deliv ered.

(B) On the date of the United States Post Service postmark stamped on the cover in which the notice is posted, if the notice is mailed.

(4) For a notice of appeal mailed to the Court to be deemed to be received under paragraph (3)(B) on a particular date, the United States Postal Service postmark on the cover in which the notice is posted must be legible. The Court shall determine the legibility of any such postmark and the Court's determination as to legibility shall be final and not subject to review by any other Court.

103D CONGRESS 2d Session

SENATE

REPORT 103-233

ORGAN TRANSPLANT PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 1993

MARCH 7 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1994.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. KENNEDY, from the Committee on Labor and Human
Resources, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany S. 1597]

The Committee on Labor and Human Resources to which was referred the bill (S. 1597) to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend certain organ procurement and transplantation programs, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

S. 1597 extends for 3 years the Organ Transplant Program, a program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, and designed to procure and allocate life saving organs on an equitable basis. $2.7 million has been appropriated for the organ transplant program during fiscal year 1994, and such funding as may be necessary in fiscal years 1995 and 1996.

S. 1597 authorizes funds for programs that increase organ donations, especially among minority and other populations where the need for organ donations is more desperate. S. 1597 recognizes that in addition to organ procurement, the issue of organ allocation must be addressed. Currently waiting times for organs vary greatly in different regions of the country. To correct this situation, the bill requires the General Accounting Office (GAO) to conduct a study to recommend how to allocate organs on an equitable basis, and requires organs to be distributed on the basis of a single list established in an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) region, or an approved alternative local unit, or in a region encompassing at least an entire State.

The bill calls for greater patient representation on the Boards of OPOs, and specifies that the general public including patients, transplant candidates, and donor families must comprise at least 40 percent of the board of the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN). To protect patients from undue price increases, the Network must submit any changes in patient registration fees to the Secretary of the HHS for prior approval. The bill also requires OPOs to engage in public education about the need for organ donation.

S. 1597 authorizes studies by the GAO and the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). In addition to the organ allocation study mentioned above, the bill requires GAO to study OPO board composition, and requires the OTA to study appropriate standards for judging OPO performance and the equitable allocation of organs nationwide.

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED

Since the first successful procedures in the 1950's, the transplantation of organs in humans has become an accepted and effective means of treating a significant number of patients with life-threatening organ failure. Kidneys, hearts, and livers are most commonly transplanted. However, a serious problem that affects organ transplantation is the wide gap between the need for organs and the supply of donors. At any one time, there are over 30,000 persons waiting for a donor organ to become available, and these numbers continue to grow. The need is even greater among minority populations.

The Committee feels that lack of education among the public continues to pose a barrier to increasing the supply of donor organs. Because the demand for transplantable organs is expected to continue to be considerably greater than the supply, a fair and equitable organ sharing system is critical to the future of a national transplant program that the public will support.

THE NATIONAL ORGAN TRANSPLANT ACT OF 1984

The 98th Congress responded to widespread public interest in and concern about the field of organ and bone marrow transplantation, by enacting the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-507). Of particular concern was the shortage of donors and the costs of transplant procedures. In addition to prohibiting the buying and selling of organs, the act provided for the establishment