Are Kidneys Donated By Black More Likely To Be Thrown Away?

Kidney disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and the public health problem could be exacerbated by the fact that kidneys from Black donors are more likely to be thrown away. 

Kidney disease is more severe among Black Americans, as they are three times more likely than their white counterparts to develop kidney failure in America, according to The Conversation. Black people make up only 12% of the population, but they make up 35% of all those with kidney failure, which is likely due to the prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure in the Black community. Of The nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. awaiting kidney transplantation, Black Americans are more likely to need them and they are also less likely to receive transplants.

With the need already so high, it’s especially harmful that kidneys from Black donors in the U.S. are thrown out at an elevated rate. This is potentially due to a racially disparate system that “erroneously considers all Black donor kidneys as more likely to stop working after a transplant than kidneys from donors of other races.”

Since kidneys are a scarce resource, race being considered a factor in its distribution is especially dangerous. It leads the kidney analysis algorithm to rank a transplanted kidney from a Black donor lower, degrading their quality when it may not truly be necessary.

Ana S. Iltis, professor of Philosophy at Carlson Professor of University Studies, and director at the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society, Wake Forest University, wrote in The Conversation, “This means that some good kidneys may be wasted, raising several ethical and practical concerns.”

This could be both unnecessary and wasteful because previous studies have shown that race is a social construct and is an inaccurate indicator of human genetic diversity, and thus kidney quality. This suggests that any differences seen in the quality of transplanted organs are due to an individual’s genetics without regard to race.

Recognizing this issue in regards to a scarce resource is vital to prevent them from being wasted, so more people can be helped.

Black people in need of a transplant are more likely to be designated to receive an organ from another Black person, but they often remain on the list longer because the kidneys they need are being discarded.

One suggestion for making organ transplantation more equitable and efficient could be as “simple as ignoring race when evaluating donor kidneys, [according to some] medical researchers,” stressed Iltis.

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