New liver transplant rules yield winners, losers as wasted organs reach record high

Loading

The number of lifesaving liver transplants has plummeted in some Southern and Midwestern states that struggle with higher death rates from liver disease

By Malena Carollo and Ben Tanen

New rules requiring donated livers to be offered for transplant hundreds of miles away have benefited patients in New York, California and more than a dozen other states at the expense of patients in mostly poorer states with higher death rates from liver disease, a data analysis by The Washington Post and the Markup has found.

The shift was implemented in 2020 to prioritize the sickest patients on waitlists no matter where they live. Read the full story in The Washington Post.

Loading