Woman waits for kidney transplant, while usable organs thrown away

Carolina Live| Joel Allen


While people die waiting for a kidney transplant, a new report says thousands of kidneys that could be used for transplantation are being discarded.

A report in the New York Times shows more than 2,600 kidneys nationwide are recovered from deceased donors each year and then discarded without being transplanted. The report said more than 4,700 people in the United States died while waiting for kidney transplants last year.

The report puts the blame on an outdated computer matching system, too much government oversight and doctors relying too often on inconclusive tests.

Elmira Williams of Bucksport is among those waiting every day for a kidney donor to be found, while knowing that an organ that may have been able to save her life has simply been thrown away as medical waste.

For the past two years, Williams has been getting dialysis treatments three times a week.

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