Minorities Fare Worse as Organ Transplant Recipients in New York

Volume 54 number 10 October 1999 from www.mssny.org

Black and Hispanic New Yorkers "are being deprived of equal access to potentially life-saving organ transplants," even as they suffer disproportionately high incidences of many diseases that are often treatable only through organ transplant, the New York Daily New reports. In the August 8 issue, the Daily News compared the populations of whites, blacks and Hispanics in New York City and eight surrounding countries in terms of who received transplants from 1996 through 1998. The paper found that the main factor impeding minorities' access to organs was that "they weren't placed on organ waiting lists," either because they were referred to late, or because they were "ruled out because of medical insurance or health issues." Three or four patients on waiting lists in the period were white, although whites comprise only 54% of the population. Conversely, blacks made up 19% of the population but 19% of the list, while Hispanics made up 20% of the population but 11% of the list. Controlling for specific diseases only exacerbated the differences. When minorities were placed on the list, however, they "benefited from transplants at the nine regional hospitals more often then their white counterparts." Almost four in ten Hispanics and one in three blacks received new organs, while only one in four whites benefited. But as fewer minorities made the list, fewer ultimately received transplants, as Hispanics only accounted for 15%, and blacks 13%, of liver, heart and lung transplants during the period. White received 65%. The study also looked at the particular difficulties facing blacks waiting for kidney transplants. African Americans are uniquely beset by kidney disease, which both increases the need for transplants and reduces the number of available donors with healthy kidneys. Yet while the average waiting time for a kidney is 2.6 years nationwide, the rate falls to 1.7 years for blacks.

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