[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 207 (Thursday, October 25, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54018-54019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-26932]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice of meeting of the Advisory Committee on Organ 
Transplantation.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice is hereby given of the 
first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation 
(ACOT), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The meeting will 
be held from approximately 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. on December 3, 2001, and 
from 8 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. on December 4, 2001, at the Hyatt Dulles, at 
Dulles International Airport, 2300 Dulles Corner Boulevard, Herndon, 
Virginia 20171. The meeting will be open to the public; however, 
seating is limited and pre-registration is encouraged (see below).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the authority of 42 U.S.C. section 
217a, section 222 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and 42 
CFR 121.12 (2000), the ACOT was established to assist the Secretary in 
enhancing organ donation, ensuring that the system of organ 
transplantation is grounded in the best available medical science, and 
assuring the public that the system is as effective and equitable as 
possible, and, thereby, increasing public confidence in the integrity 
and effectiveness of the transplantation system. The ACOT is composed 
of 41 members, including the Chair. Members are non-governmental 
individuals with diverse backgrounds in fields such as organ donation, 
health care public policy, transplantation medicine and surgery, 
critical care medicine and other medical specialties involved in the 
identification and referral of donors, non-physician transplant 
professions, nursing, epidemiology, immunology, law and bioethics, 
behavioral sciences, economics and statistics, as well as 
representatives of transplant candidates, transplant recipients, organ 
donors, and family members.
    The ACOT will consider a number of subjects relating to the means 
of expanding the donor pool and increasing organ donation; and it will 
also review the organ allocation policies submitted by the Organ 
Procurement

[[Page 54019]]

and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to HHS for approval. The draft 
meeting agenda and a registration form are available on the Division of 
Transplantation's Web site: http://www.hrsa.gov/osp/dot/whatsnew.htm or 
the Department's donation Web site at: http://www.organdonor.gov/news.htm. The completed registration form should be submitted by 
facsimile to McFarland and Associates, Inc., the logistic support 
contractor for the meeting, at FAX number (301) 589-2567. Individuals 
without access to the Internet who wish to register may call McFarland 
and Associates, Inc., at 301-562-5362. Individuals who plan to attend 
the meeting and need special assistance, such as sign language 
interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should notify the 
ACOT Executive Director, Jack Kress, in advance of the meeting. Mr. 
Kress may be reached by telephone at 301-443-8653, by e-mail at: 
[email protected], or in writing at the address of the Division of 
Transplantation provided below. Management and support services for 
ACOT functions are provided by the Division of Transplantation, Office 
of Special Programs, HRSA, Room 7C-22, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Telephone 301-443-7577.
    There will be a limited period of time for presentation of selected 
public comments before the Committee considers each allocation policy 
and donation issue. The public may review the current and proposed 
modified OPTN policies on the Division of Transplantation's Web site 
at: http://www.hrsa.gov/osp/dot/whatsnew.htm and may also obtain this 
material, as well as reports of committee discussions of these policies 
by contacting the Division of Transplantation at 301-443-7577. While 
public comments are welcome for possible presentation, please note that 
the Committee will be working with a full agenda and a limited amount 
of time. Therefore, to facilitate this process, we recommend that 
individuals interested in providing public comments submit those 
comments in writing by November 16, 2001, to the Executive Director of 
the Committee (address above). The Department reserves the right to 
select comments from among those submitted for oral presentation within 
the time available, although it will include all comments in the record 
of the ACOT meeting.

    Dated: October 19, 2001.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 01-26932 Filed 10-24-01; 8:45 am]
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