Six years after its heart transplant program was shut down amid controversy, the University of Kansas Medical Center has applied to the United Network for Organ Sharing to begin performing heart transplants again.

The center, which began transplanting hearts in 1984, stopped performing the transplants in 1994 when the surgeons who performed heart transplants left the program. However, it made no announcement that the program was closed and continued listing patients for heart transplants.

During a 10-month period before it officially halted the program in 1995, it turned away donor hearts that had been offered, according to the Kansas State Attorney General. The medical center subsequently agreed to an out-of-court settlement in which it paid $11,000 to each of 15 former patients or their families, $50,000 in civil penalties and $50,000 for investigation costs.

"We're a different organization than we were in 1995," said Medical Center President Irene Cumming said in announcing the decision to reactivate the heart transplant program.

Dr. Michael Gorton, a cardiothoracic surgeon and head of the medical center's heart-transplant team, he and his colleagues hoped to begin performing heart transplants within three to six months after approval, with a goal of doing 10 to 15 per year.

Other sources: Kansas City Star