Let Liver Transplants Go Where They're Needed

About 3,000 people die in the U.S. each year for lack of a liver for transplantation. More than 100 of those lives could be saved by ensuring that more of the 6,000 or so livers donated annually in the U.S. go to those who need them most.

Under the existing system, managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing, donated livers are prioritized for use in the regions from which they come. In places where the organs are relatively plentiful—the South, for instance, where death rates are higher—they sometimes go to people who could easily wait longer for a transplant, rather than to sicker patients who may die without them. As a result, the death rate for patients on a liver wait list can vary by a factor of 10 from one part of the U.S. to another.