Changes intended to make organ allocation more equitable
WebMD News from HealthDay
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Dec. 4, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- New rules intended to create a more level playing field for those awaiting kidney transplants in the United States go into effect Thursday.
The changes are designed to lengthen the time younger patients will have working transplants, increase kidney availability and improve the odds for patients with hard-to-match donors, said Dr. Richard Formica, who chairs the kidney transplantation committee of the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network and United Network for Organ Sharing.
"Our intention was to make allocation of kidneys as class-, race-, age- and gender-free as possible," said Formica, who is also director of transplant medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. "So if you got kidney disease, everybody is treated exactly the same -- that's the goal."
Demand for lifesaving kidneys is far greater than the supply, said Tonya Saffer, the senior federal health policy director at the National Kidney Foundation. "No policy for allocating donor kidneys can possibly match every patient in need with a donor, but this new system is expected to decrease re-transplantation and waiting times," she said.
About 16,000 kidney transplants are performed each year in the United States, while more than 100,000 people are on the waiting list, the kidney foundation estimates. Although waiting time for a transplant varies across the country, the average wait is 36 months, Formica said. Last year, more than 4,400 people died while waiting, he added.
Under the new rules, which apply to kidneys from deceased donors, people will get credit for being on the kidney waiting list from the time they start dialysis, not from the time they get on the list, Formica said.
In the current system, someone with kidney failure could be on dialysis for years before being added to the transplant waiting list, he explained. "We think it is important people get credit for all the time they spent on dialysis," he said.
Also, under the new proposals young patients will receive healthy kidneys from younger donors. This may help cut down on the need for re-transplants, Formica explained.
source : New U.S. Kidney Transplant Rules Take Effect
