To address the nation's critical organ donation shortage and improve the organ matching and placement process, the U.S. Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act* in 1984. The act established the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to maintain a national registry for organ matching. The act also called for the network to be operated by a private, non-profit organization under federal contract.
Information about the OPTN's functions and responsibilities, contract and grant provisions, and other statutes pertaining to the OPTN are contained in Title 42, United States Code (USC), beginning at Section 273.
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