While some wait-listed transplant patients take desperate measures to buy transplant organs in black markets abroad, studies have shown that apart from moral and legal ethics, the health risks are not worth it. A new study just worsened the waiting time for an organ donation.
Researchers found that wealthy patients have more chances of getting on multiple waiting lists for organs and secure a transplant. Moreover, they have lower risks of dying while waiting for transplant organs to become available.
"Multiple-listed patients were more likely to get transplanted and less likely to die," said Dr. Raymond Givens from the Columbia University Medical Center.
Givens led a study covering 122,000 transplant patients in the United States. Over 100,000 of the patients involved needed kidney transplants. However, only 18,000 transplants had been completed by July.
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a national agency that operates the transplant system in the U.S. The agency awards organs based on a systematic formula that takes into account several factors such as medical urgency, patient's distance from the donor, total time spent wait-listed and tissue type. According to UNOS spokesman Joel Newman, the agency had attempted to ban multiple listings three times already, with the last one in 2003. However, there are people who believe that patients should have the freedom to do everything they can to improve their chances, which includes getting on multiple waiting lists.
Funded by the Heart Failure Society of America and the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation, the researchers found that the occurrence of multiple listings varies among transplant patients: heart (two percent), liver (six percent) and kidney (12 percent). For heart transplant patients, the death rate for single-listed (SL) and multiple-listed patients is 12 and eight percent respectively. For liver transplant patients, the death rates are 17 percent (SL) and 12 percent (ML). For kidney transplant patients, the death rates are 19 percent (SL) and 11 percent (ML).
When matched with single-listed patients, findings also showed that multiple-listed patients were younger (52 versus 54), less likely to have Medicaid coverage (6 percent versus 10 percent) and more likely to be covered by private insurance (59 percent versus 51 percent). The average income of people in zip codes where multiple-listed patients reside are definitely higher: $93,081 versus $67,690. The study was presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida.
The new study confirmed the long-standing suspicion that wealthy patients have more advantages; they have the money to take tests and can even travel to get on multiple waiting lists for organ transplant.
Multiple-listed patients have higher chances of getting a transplant and thus have lower chances of dying in vain. Regardless of status quo, following through all possible options is a rational thing to do when it comes to matters of life and death. Donor organs ought to be rewarded to the ones who are most in need, and this kind of wealth advantage raises questions about equality and fairness.
