The Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) provides appropriate health care to over 108,000 inmates each day by adhering to community standards of medicine, including kidney dialysis and treatment when medically indicated. The Bureau's policy, practice, and position is that inmates should receive medical care consistent with community standards. Like other costs necessary to operate the FBOP's 93 safe and secure correctional facilities, medical expenditures are basic and prudent.

Since the early 1980s, the Bureau's general policy is not to provide organ transplants. The Medical Director may make an exception to this rule, if the medical or other facts of a particular inmate's case so warrant. The Medical Director's decision whether to grant an exemption to this policy depends on a number of factors. These factors would include whether there are alternative medical treatments available, the cost of the procedure and whether the inmate can defray any of these costs, the security issues involved, and the nature of the procedure. For example, the more experimental the procedure the less likely an exception would be granted.

If the Medical Director confirms the inmate may be a suitable candidate for an organ transplant which is needed to preserve the patient's life and/or to prevent irreparable harm, the Bureau may favorably consider attempts to obtain early release (Compassionate Release).

As a matter of practice, the FBOP reviews its medical care policies continually to assure that they comport to the standard of care in the community. As community standards change, the medical care that is provided to inmates changes as well. For example, cancer patients are treated with available chemotherapy and radiation, AIDs patients are provided with AZT and other AIDs-fighting drugs, and medical and surgical treatments are incorporated as they are integrated into medical care in the community.