A New Hope: Breaking Down Barriers for Patients Living with HIV on the Transplant Waitlist

For over a decade, the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act has paved the way for transplant centers to accept organs from patients with positive HIV tests for transplant into recipients living with HIV under the research protocol. Earlier this year, following many years of positive outcomes, policy was updated to allow kidney and liver transplant centers to perform these transplants without the need to be under a research IRB. This update has opened doors to organ access for patients with HIV on the waiting list for kidney or liver transplant. Due to this exciting development, hosts Kimberly Leale and Laura Cotiguala are joined by panelists, Drs. Erika Meredith and Lance Lineberger, who have been taking care of abdominal transplants under the HOPE Act for years. In this episode, they provide expert guidance for pharmacists at centers who are looking to start or increase numbers within an HIV positive organ acceptance program under the updated regulations.