Who Gets First Dibs On Transplanted Liver? Rules May Change

Who Gets First Dibs On Transplanted Liver? Rules May Change

by ROB STEIN
August 14, 2014 3:34 AM ET

'We Have This Huge Disparity.'

"Either it's a jackpot and you have very, very easy access to a lifesaving liver — if you lived in Indiana or if you lived in Louisiana or Florida," says Dr. David Mulligan, a transplant surgeon at Yale University. "But if you live in California or New York or New England the chances are significantly worse."

That's because the country is divided into 11 regions and some regions have more livers for transplant than others.

"So in the Southeast, for example, or in parts of the Midwest, where there's a higher death rate," Mulligan says, "there are more donor organs."

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