Kidneys from Black donors are more likely to be thrown away

Corey Mayes at his New York home on Feb. 10, 2023, after receiving a kidney transplant. Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images − a bioethicist explains why by Ana S. Iltis, Wake Forest University As one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., kidney disease is a serious public health problem. The disease is particularly severe among Black Americans, who are three times more likely than White Americans to develop kidney failure. While Black people constitute only 12% of the U.S. population, they account for 35% of those with kidney failure. The reason is due in part to the prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure – the two largest contributors to kidney disease – in the Black community. Almost 100,000 people in the U.S. are awaiting kidney transplantation. Though Black Americans are more likely to need transplants, they are also less likely to receive them. Making matters worse, kidneys from Black donors in the U.S. are more likely to be thrown away as a result of a flawed system that erroneously considers all Black donor kidneys as more likely to stop working after a transplant than kidneys from donors of other races. As a scholar of bioethics,...