We find the disparity in waiting times across the country to be unacceptable. Americans in need of organ transplants will live or die on the basis of where they live. The policy that allows this to happen is contrary to the intent of Congress and in violation of the American Medical Association's Code of Ethics. It would be illegal to deny an organ to patients solely because of their race, gender, or age. Yet organs are denied to patients because of where they live.
Geographic discrimination is no better than any other sort of discrimination.
It is flat out wrong and should no longer be tolerated. The Department recognizes that there is tremendous controversy over the subject of organ allocation. We understand that there is division in the transplant community about the distribution of organs, and that while many want the current system changed, others do not. The OPTN must not be so paralyzed by controversy and division that it does not act to change a system that is unfair to patients, and that may be allowing patients to die unnecessarily. Through the pending regulation, the Department is putting patients first.