Potential liver transplant patients have a better chance of receiving a life-saving organ if they live in the Midwest or Southern regions of America than on the East or West coasts. A reorganization of the 11 U.S. transplant regions could change those odds.
The United Network for Organ Sharing is brainstorming possible scenarios to eliminate the disparity of liver transplants across the country, according to CNN. The Midwest and Southern regions have a higher rate of organ donation. Patients in those areas would likely receive a transplant before someone in a coastal region, despite how long they may have waited on the transplant list.
"We lose someone every week who never got a shot at a lifesaving liver transplant because of where they live," Dr. David Mulligan, chairman of the United Network for Organ Sharing committee, told CNN. "That same person would have had a shot if they lived in Kansas or Georgia or Louisiana."
One possible solution, though temporary, is to reduce the 11 U.S. transplant regions to four or eight. Centers on the East and West coasts could see a boost in available transplant organs by 40 to 50 percent, according to some estimates.
About 15,600 people sit on the waiting list for a liver transplant, a number expected to rise due to the nation's obesity epidemic. An estimated 6,000 liver transplants happen each year and an average of 1,500 people die waiting for one each year.
The reduction of transplant regions would direct more organs to places in need, but it would also take away from donation rich regions, a fact doctors in the area say doesn't make sense.
"What they are attempting to do is say, 'Hey, those guys have all the organs. Let's go over and poach those' instead of having their own grass-roots campaign to identify new donors," Dr. Sean Kumer, a transplant surgeon at the University of Kansas, told CNN.
Kumer and other doctors want to put the focus on signing up more donors in those areas where donations are slim. They also warn about the cost to transport organs longer distances, although Mulligan argues those costs would be offset by doctors caring for less patients with end-stage liver failure.
Doctors in the Midwest and the South have sent letters to the organ network encouraging them to wait on redrawing the geographic boundaries until all available data is considered. All sides of the debate agree any solution would be temporary unless more people sign up to donate.
