37% of Kidneys Allocated Outside Normal Process: The Shocking Truth of Organ Transplants

Organ transplant waiting lists are not as straightforward as one might hope. An analysis of over 500,000 transplants since 2004 reveals that procurement organizations often bypass these lists, even for higher-quality organs. Last year, 37% of kidneys allocated outside the normal process were above-average quality. While other organs lack a similar scoring system, donor age often serves as a quality indicator, showing little difference in age between normally and exceptionally allocated organs. Despite beliefs within the transplant community that this practice reduces organ wastage, a recent unreleased report suggests otherwise. The reasons for bypassing recipients vary, from risk factors to less justifiable causes.

Source: flowingdata.com