Orrin Hatch: “I rise to speak on a patient care issue of enormous importance: regulations being promulgated by the Secretary of Health…”

“I rise to speak on a patient care issue of enormous importance: regulations being promulgated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with respect to organ transplantation. I have long championed the need for our country to bring the innovations of medical science to the forefront of patient treatment, be it through pharmaceutical development, gene mapping, or artificial organ development. Nowhere has this been more necessary than in the realm of organ transplantation. Over 14 years ago, with the passage of the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA), Congress intervened to advance medical science at a time when our health care system was not keeping pace with the tremendous advances medicine had to offer. As a result, we examined the role of the private sector and the Federal government in organ transplantation to formulate an equitable policy for individuals throughout this country to have access to organ transplantation when appropriate and necessary. We needed a better system than that which existed at the time, and that is what NOTA established. As the author of the National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) in 1984, which was cosponsored by our colleagues Senators Nickles, Thurmond, Grassley and Roth, I am proud of our accomplishment, and I continue to maintain a very keen interest in our country establishing and operating a viable, effective organ transplant network. There is no question that passage of NOTA has allowed us to save thousands of lives.”