2007
JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) Standard LD.3.110 revisions
The organization works with the OPO and tissue and eye banks to do the following:

• Ensure that the necessary testing and placement of potential donated organs, tissues and eyes takes place in order to maximize the viability of donor organs for transplant and maintain potential donors while preliminary suitability is determined
• Develop a donation policy that addresses opportunities for asystolic recovery (Donation after cardiac death-DCD) based on an organ potential for donation that is mutually agreed upon by the designated OPO, hospital and medical staff.

2005
State – HB967 Healthcare Power of Attorney/Disposition of Remains

• Enables those with a legal healthcare power of attorney document to designate a specific person as having primary decision making rights over regarding their healthcare when unable to express wishes. This law extends beyond death to organ donation and disposition of the body.
• Provides healthcare power of attorney holder with rights to supersede wishes of next-of-kin regardless of relationship with patient.

2004
State - SB 852 Organ Procurement Organizations and Eyebanks Access to DMV Records

• Establishes a North Carolina donor registry of intent. Effective January 1, 2005 federally-designated OPOs and eyebanks operating in North Carolina can check via internet the Department of Motor Vehicles secure database (Organ Donor Internet site) to determine if someone wanted to be a donor at the time of their death. The Organ Donor Internet site will be used for the sole purpose of seeking consent from the individual's next of kin for organ, tissue or eye donation.
• Requires driver's license offices to offer donor information and a donor card to each applicant for a driver's license including the type of information that will be made available by DMV on the Organ Donor Internet site and how that information will be used by OPOs and eyebanks.
• Establishes A License to Give Trust Fund and Commission to promote organ and tissue donation and health care decision-making at life's end.

2004
Federal - Organ Donation and Recovery Improvement Act (ODRIA)

• Focuses on strengthening efforts to increase donation rates, including ways to make living donation an easier and more financially appealing option.
• Authorizes $25 million in program development, grants, and direct funding for public awareness studies and demonstration projects; assistance for living donors; grants for hospital-based donation programs; and studies relating to organ donation recovery, preservation and transportation.

2002
6,185 deceased organ donors and 6,607 living organ donors saved the lives of 24,833 people who received transplants in the U.S. Nearly 900,000 tissue transplants were also performed.

2001
North Carolina's Organ, Eye and Tissue Donor Registry law states that a gift made in accordance with the NC "Gift of Life Act" shall be sufficient legal authority for procurement without additional authority from the donor or donor's family or estate. Also effective January 1, 2002, driver's license offices should offer a donor card to each applicant for a drivers license or special identification and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will study and report on the feasibility and benefits of a statewide registry. (SB 907 Session Law 2001-481 Organ, Eye and Tissue Donor Registry)

2000
700,000 tissue transplants were performed in the United States, up from 500,000 tissue transplants in 1993.

1998
Federal Department of Health and Human Services announces additional rules to increase organ and tissue donation. Changes to the Conditions of Participation (CoP) for hospitals receiving Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement require hospitals to notify, in a timely manner, their designated organ procurement agency of individuals whose death is imminent or who have died in the hospital. Also requires that the individual designated by the hospital to initiate the request to the family must be an organ procurement representative or a trained designated requestor. (HCFA Regulation 42 CFR 482.45 Hospital Conditions of Participation; Identification of Potential Organ, Tissue and Eye Donors)

1997
North Carolina "Gift of Life Act" requires that hospitals notify the organ procurement organization (OPO) of all cardiac deaths and impending brain deaths up to age 75. The hospital also must provide the OPO with reasonable access to patients' charts to determine donation potential and conduct record reviews for evaluation of educational needs. Also establishes OPO's as the responsible party for evaluating all referrals for donation potential and making the families of donors aware of their option to donate. (North Carolina G.S. 130A-412.2-Amendments to the Anatomical Gift Act)

1993
The Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initiates regulation of all U.S. tissue banks.

1992
Baboon liver transplanted into man dying of liver failure resulting from hepatitis.

1991
First successful small intestine transplants reported by surgeons at University of Pittsburgh.

1990
Dr. Joseph Murray, who performed the first kidney transplant, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

1990
First lung transplant from a living related donor.

1989
First liver transplant from a living related donor.

1988
FDA approval of Viaspan or UW solution, greatly extends preservation time for organs.

1988
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) sets standards for policies and procedures for identification and referral of potential donors to organ procurement organizations.

1986
North Carolina's Omnibus Reconciliation Act assures that families of potential organ and tissue donors are informed of their option to consent to or decline donation; encourages discretion and sensitivity with respect to the circumstances, views, and beliefs of such families; and requires that the organ procurement agency designated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services be notified of all potential donors.

1986
The Federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act requires hospitals receiving reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid to establish protocols to insure the approach of potential donor families and notification of an OPO. It also requires transplant hospitals to become members of the Organ Procurement Transplantation Network (OPTN) and abide by Network rules. The Act establishes "designation" of OPOs and provides Medicare coverage for immunosuppressive drugs. (P.L. 99-509)

1984
National Organ Transplant Act establishes nationwide computer registry (national wait list) operated by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS); authorizes financial support for organ procurement organizations; and prohibits the buying/selling of organs. (P.L. 98-507)

1983
FDA approves cyclosporine, the most successful anti-rejection medication developed to date.

1981
First successful heart/lung transplant done by Dr. Norman Shumway, Stanford University Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA.

1980
The Uniform Determination of Death Act, which recognizes death as either a determination of irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, was adopted by the American Medical Association.

1978
Immunosuppressive drug Cyclosporin was introduced to control the body's immune systems from rejecting a transplanted organ.

1972
End Stage Renal Disease Act paves way for Medicare coverage of all kidney transplants.

1968
First pancreas transplant by Dr. Lillche, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

1968
The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act establishes the Uniform Organ Donor Card as a legal document in all 50 states making it possible for anyone 18 years or older to legally donate his or her organs upon death.

1967
First successful heart transplant, Dr. Christian Bernard, Groate Shure Hospital, South Africa

1967
First successful liver transplant, Dr. Thomas Starzl, University of Colorado, Denver, CO

1963
First lung transplant by Dr. James Hardy, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS

1962
First successful post-mortem kidney transplant by Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume at Brigham Hospital, Boston

1954
First successful living-related donor kidney transplant (between identical twin brothers) was performed by Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume at Brigham Hospital, Boston

1905
First successful cornea transplant by Eduard Zirm, Austria