Organ transplant data
The lead author of the study, Dr. Raymond Givens of New York’s Columbia University, presented the results at an American Heart Association conference in Orlando, Florida on Monday. Dr. Givens found the wealthy can more easily get on multiple transplant waiting lists, making it less likely they’ll die while waiting for a kidney, heart or other organ.
Organs are supposed to be given to the sickest patients who have waited the longest but many wealthy patients can afford to put themselves on two, three or more wait lists, travelling to other states and paying the fees for the tests needed at each one. Tests can cost from $23,000 for a kidney all the way up to $51,000 for a heart.
“Multiple-listed patients were more likely to get transplanted and less likely to die,” Dr. Givens said. He adds that getting on more than one wait list is a “rational thing to do” for those who can afford it.
Some states, such as New York, have comparatively fewer organs available, while others, such as California, have more. Wealthy people from New York often travel to California and pay for tests and get on wait lists there.
System favours wealthy
But is it fair? Many, perhaps most, argue it is not. However the system is not fully under the purveyance of the U.S. government. The government has contracted out the setting up and running of the organ transplant system to a company called The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
UNOS takes into account issues that are supposed to be of a greater import, such as the degree of illness, the length of time waiting for an organ, tissue type and other factors. But regardless being listed on multiple wait lists is a key to getting your organ.
A spokesman for UNOS, Joel Newman said that on three occasions the company began the procedure to change the rules, intending to either ban multiple-listing or at the least limit the number of lists patients can be on. But each time they abandoned the idea.
It seems the voices who believe those who can afford to pay for multiple listings and get greater odds of surviving until their organ is ready have held greater sway over UNOS. The government isn’t about to step in and there does not appear to be any likelihood of change in the system.
The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients lists the facts as they pertain to organ transplants in America, including the average wait times at each hospital that performs transplants, along with their success rate.
There are 122,000 Americans in need of an organ transplant; however, as of July just 18,000 transplants had been performed in 2015.
