Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation (ACOT)
CHARTER
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Purpose
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has a vital role
in safeguarding and promoting public health by overseeing the development
of an equitable and effective organ donation, procurement, allocation,
and transplantation system in the United States. The recommendations
of the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation will facilitate
HHS efforts to oversee the Organ Procurement and Transplantation
Network (OPTN), as envisioned in the National Organ Transplant Act
of 1984, as amended.
Authority
42 U.S.C. 217a; Section 222 of the Public Health Service Act, as
amended; 42 CFR 121.12 (64 FR 56661). The Committee is governed
by the provisions of Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix
2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory
committees.
Function
The Committee shall advise the Secretary, acting through the Administrator,
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), on all aspects
of organ donation, procurement, allocation, and transplantation,
and on such other matters that the Secretary determines. One of
its principal functions shall be to advise the Secretary on ways
to maximize Federal efforts to increase living and deceased organ
donation nationally.
The Committee shall, at the request of the Secretary, review significant
proposed OPTN policies submitted for the Secretary's approval to
recommend whether they should be made enforceable. It shall provide
expert input to the Secretary on the latest advances in the science
of transplantation, the OPTN's system of collecting, disseminating
and ensuring the validity, accuracy, timeliness and usefulness of
data, and additional medical, public health, ethical, legal, financial
coverage, social science, and socioeconomic issues that are relevant
to transplantation.
Structure
The Committee shall consist of up to 25 members, including the
Chair. Members and Chair shall be selected by the Secretary from
individuals knowledgeable in such fields 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.
Members shall be selected who are external to the OPTN governing
Board of Directors. To the extent practicable, Committee members
should represent the minority, gender and geographic diversity of
transplant candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors and family
members served by the OPTN.
The Committee also shall consist of the Director of the National
Institutes of Health, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration,
Director of the Centers for Disease and Prevention, and Director
of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (or the designees
of such officials), each of whom shall be a non-voting ex-officio
member. The Secretary also may appoint other non-voting ex officio
members, or designees of such officials, as the Secretary deems
necessary for the Committee to effectively carry out its function.
As necessary, standing and ad hoc subcommittees, composed of members
of the parent committee, may be established with the approval of
the Secretary or his designee to perform specific functions within
the Committee's jurisdiction. The Department Committee Management
Officer shall be notified upon establishment of each subcommittee,
and shall be provided information on its name, membership, function,
and estimated frequency of meetings.
Members shall be invited to serve for overlapping 4-year terms.
Terms past the termination date of the Committee are contingent
upon renewal of the Committee by appropriate action prior to this
date. Members may serve after the expiration of their term until
their successors have taken office, but no longer than 180 days.
The Secretary shall appoint a Chair from among the Committee members.
A vacancy on the Advisory Committee shall be filled in the manner
in which the original appointment was made and shall be subjected
to any conditions that applied with respect to the original appointment.
An individual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed for the
remainder of the term of the member replaced. The vacancy shall
not affect the power of the remaining members to execute the duties
of the Committee.
Management and support services shall be provided by HRSA's Healthcare
Systems Bureau.
Meetings
Meetings shall be held at least 2 times per year at the call of
the Designated Federal Officer or designee who shall approve the
agenda and shall be present at all meetings.
A majority of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.
Meetings shall be open to the public except as determined otherwise
by the Secretary or other officials to whom the authority has been
delegated in accordance with the Government in the Sunshine Act
(5 U.S.C. 552b(c)). Notice of all meetings shall be provided to
the public. Meetings shall be conducted, and records of the proceedings
kept, as required by applicable laws and departmental regulations.
Compensation
Members shall be paid at a rate of $200 for each day they are engaged
in the performance of their duties as members of the Committee.
Members shall receive per diem and travel expenses as authorized
by 5 U.S.C. 5703, as amended, for persons employed intermittently
in the Government service. Members who are officers or employees
of the United States shall not receive compensation for service
on the Committee.
Annual Cost Estimate
Estimated annual cost for operating the Committee, including compensation
and travel expenses for members but excluding staff support, is
$269,308. Estimated annual person-years of staff support required
is 0.80, at an estimated annual cost of $103,323.
Reports
In the event a portion of a meeting is closed to the public, as
determined by the Secretary of HHS, in accordance with the Government
in the Sunshine Act (5 U.S.C. 552b (c)) and the Federal Advisory
Committee Act, a report shall be prepared that shall contain, at
a minimum, a list of members and their business addresses, the Committee's
function, dates and places of meetings, and a summary of Committee
activities and recommendations made during the fiscal year. A copy
of the report shall be provided to the Department Committee Management
Officer.
Termination Date
Unless renewed by appropriate action prior to its expiration, the
Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation will terminate on September
1, 2010.
APPROVED:
8/20/2008
Date |
/S/ Wendy B. Ponton
Director, Office of Management
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