Judge allows new liver transplant rules to go into effect

Judge allows new liver transplant rules to go into effect 

A judge lifted an eight-month hold on new liver transplant rules late last week, saying there were no legal grounds for granting a permanent injunction against the rules put forth by the federal government. Last May, the United Network for Organ Sharing system enacted rules to expand where patients could get donor organs: Instead of being limited to organs from within their own region, the most seriously ill patients within a 575-mile radius of a donor hospital will be the first offered a liver, a change that may make wait times shorter for many on the liver transplant list. The rules were blocked a day later as some hospitals and patients in the Midwest and South contested the rules, arguing they would disadvantage rural patients. The regulations will go into effect in the coming weeks.