Addiction Medicine in Organ Transplantation

Abstract

Allocation of organs for transplant has created medical, ethical, and economic concerns at a time when availability of all organs is extremely limited. Although transplantation is the final treatment for many diseases, it is not available to everyone. Patients' use of alcohol and other drugs has become a controversial and debated issue in the transplant community. Compliance is important for all transplant recipients, but it becomes even more important in patients whose drug or alcohol use has caused their organ disease. The issue of addiction appears to be more critical with transplant patients because of the potential for noncompliance, which may lead to graft loss. Local, regional, and national regulations have also affected the allocation of organs. At The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a chemical dependency transplant team was formed in response to criteria of the Ohio Solid Organ Transplantation Consortium for transplant patients with addictive disorders. The assessment, treatment, and monitoring of these patients requires specific expertise; a prominent role on transplant teams for specialists in addiction has resulted. The purpose of this article is to describe the responsibilities of the chemical dependency transplant team, the scope of the referral and evaluation process, and the team's appropriate roles with patients and transplant professionals.