An astounding one out of every four kidneys that’s recovered from a generous American organ donor is thrown in the trash.
Organs are literally lost and damaged in transit every single week. The OPTN contractor is 15 times more likely to lose or damage an organ in transit than an airline is a suitcase.
Seventeen percent of kidneys are offered to at least one deceased person before they are transplanted….
This bad news comes to us via Alex Tabarrok at the Marginal Revolution blog.
Last year there was a news report about the courier literally forgot and left the container with the kidney on the plane when he/she disembarked. That raises the obvious guestion(s): 1) was this a dedicated trip with the courier sent solely to transport a kidney. If so, wouldn’t he/she be more cognizant of making sure it got to its location? 2) as much as kidneys cost, wouldn’t the transplant people hire more responsible couriers?