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November 21, 2008 1:47:59 PM CST

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Transplant List Called Misleading

Posted Mar 22, 08 2:16 PM CDT in Science & Health 

(Newser) – Thousands of patients on a national list for organ transplants are actually ineligible to receive them, the Washington Post reports. One third of the 98,000 patients on the United Network for Organ Sharing list are either too sick or too healthy to get a new organ. Critics say including these "inactive" patients on the list is "deceptive" and "dishonest."

UNOS points out that many of the inactive patients are temporarily ineligible due to fleeting complications. "Whether it's 75,000 or 100,000, there are still far more people who need transplants than can get them," said UNOS's president-elect. "None of this changes the fact that there is a significant number of people who die waiting." Still, critics and supporters agree that it should be more accurate because the list is UNOS's best "marketing tool" for recruiting donors.

Source Washington Post

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Actor Robert Goulet arrives at the 2005 Tony Awards, in this June 5, 2005, file photo. The big-voiced baritone died from a form of pulmonary fibrosis on Oct. 30 in Los Angeles while awaiting a lung transplant....   (Associated Press)
Eight-year-old Sarah Dickman is readied for kidney transplant surgery at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston in Atlanta, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008.   (Associated Press)
Laurie Cavanaugh holds hands with her husband Mike Cavanaugh in her hospital room Friday, June 1, 2007. Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf donated a kidney to Laurie in a live-organ transplant.   (Associated Press)
Samantha Mathis plays a critically ill woman awaiting a heart transplant in the television movie, "A Stranger's Heart." Mathis hopes that the movie will inspire increased organ donations.   (Associated Press)
Max Haggerty, 23, in pre-op for double lung transplant at University of Washington. The 23-year-old had waited for a lung donor for several months.   (Associated Press)
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organ transplants • kidney transplant • heart transplants • organ donations • liver transplants • transplant list • lung transplants • United Network for Organ Sharing


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