American Heart Association
The American Heart Association grew out of a set of smaller precursor groups. The primary precursor was the Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease, formed in New York City in 1915, to study whether patients with heart disease could safely return to work. Several similar organizations formed or evolved in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago in the 1920s. Recognizing the need for a national organization to share research and promote findings, the American Heart Association was formed in 1924 by six cardiologists representing several of these precursor groups.
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
The first Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was created after the first successful heart transplant in 1967; the operation was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard. In 1968, Congress approved of the UAGA and recommended that all states adopt it. The Act was the first legislation enacted by all states in United States to address the donation of organs, tissues, and eyes as gifts to someone who may be in need of an organ for survival. The UAGA was drafted in order to increase organ and blood supplies and donation and to protect patients in the United States. It replaced numerous state laws concerning transplantation and laws lacking a uniform procedure of organ donation and an inadequate process of becoming a donor.