Physician bias might be the reason why African Americans are not receiving kidney/pancreas transplants at the same rate as similar patients in other racial groups. Dr. Keith Melancon, director of kidney and pancreas transplantation at Georgetown University Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Georgetown University Medical Center, and colleagues explore this phenomenon in the [...]

In the UK there is a shortage of donor livers for transplant. There are currently 380 patients waiting for a liver transplant, of whom 38 are aged 25 years or less. In July 2009 alone, 12 patients who were listed for liver transplant died before a liver could be found for them or because they [...]

In response to the publication of the report, Lynda Hamlyn, Chief Executive of NHS Blood and Transplant, said:
“Public confidence in the inherent fairness of the organ allocation system is integral to continued support for organ donation and transplantation in this country.

A Johns Hopkins transplant surgeon has found strong evidence that women over 45 are significantly less likely to be placed on a kidney transplant list than their equivalent male counterparts, even though women who receive a transplant stand an equal chance of survival.

Younger women have equivalent access to kidney transplants compared with their male counterparts, but older women receive transplants much less frequently than older men, according to a study appearing in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results suggest that steps are needed to ensure that women are [...]