Timeline of Historical
Events
Significant Milestones in Organ Donation and Transplantation
- 1869 — First "transplant"
which was a skin graft.
- 1906 — First transplant
of a cornea (the clear covering over the colored part of the eye.)
- 1954 — First kidney
transplant - the living donor donated to his identical twin.
- 1962/1963 — First kidney,
lung, and liver transplants from deceased donors.
- 1967/1968 — First heart transplant (in
South Africa) and first U.S. heart transplant.
- 1968 — Congress passes
the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act
and makes donating organs and tissues legal.
- 1968 — First pancreas transplant.
- 1981 — First heart/lung
transplant.
- 1983 — The Federal Food
and Drug Administration approves cyclosporine which reduces rejection
of transplanted organs or tissues.
- 1983/1984 — First successful
lung and heart/liver transplants.
- 1984 — Congress passes the National Organ
Transplant Act, which prohibits the selling of organs and tissues
and establishes the Organ Procurement
and Transplantation Network (to
ensure fair and equitable allocation of donated organ and tissues.)
- 1986 — The United
Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
provides services for equitable access and allocation of organs
and sets the membership criteria and standards for transplant
centers in the U.S. through a contract with the Division of Transplantation,
HRSA/HHS.
- 1987 — Medicare pays for heart transplants
performed at hospitals that meet criteria set by the Health Care
Financing Administration.
- 1988 — The Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) sets donor standards and
requires hospital policies and procedures for organ and tissue
procurement.
- 1990 — Medicare pays for liver transplants
(that meet specific medical criteria) performed at approved hospitals.
- 1990 — Nobel Prize awarded to Drs. Joseph
E. Murray and Dr. E. Donnall Thomas pioneers in kidney and bone
marrow transplants respectively.
- 1991 — First successful small intestine
transplant.
- 1996 — Congress authorizes mailing organ
and tissue donation information with income tax refunds (sent
to approximately 70 million households).
- 2002 — Up-to-the-minute data on the number
of people waiting for organ transplants in the United States are
now available online through the OPTN.
- 2003 — Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designates
April as National Donate Life Month.
Back to: Research,
Best Practices, and Legislation
|