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.

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