Posted on 08/26/2013 3:06:01 PM PDT by KeyLargo
Mapping the way to a more fair wait for new livers
Aug 20, 12:36 PM (ET)
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
(AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Where you live can affect your chances of getting a liver transplant, and your risk of dying while waiting. The nation's transplant network says it's time to make the system fairer - and it may take a cue from how politicians redraw voting maps.
"Gerrymandering for the public good" is how Johns Hopkins University transplant surgeon Dr. Dorry Segev describes a proposal to change the map that governs how donated livers are distributed around the country.
The problem: Some areas have fewer donated organs, and higher demand for them, than others. The sickest patients go to the top of the waiting list. But the geographic variation means that someone in California, among the toughest places to get a new liver, waits longer and is a lot sicker before getting transplanted than someone in Ohio or Florida - if they survive long enough.
"This should not be happening," Segev said
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Ahh... the word “fair” is being openly used again. I guess the Liberals think the public has been thoroughly brainwashed to forget the old “Life isn’t fair” adage. Wouldn’t surprise me, really.
Fairness may be expanded to include illegal immigrants. Dead Americans saving the lives of foreigners, while Americans die on the waiting list AND pay for the care of others.
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