© Brendan Smialowski/AFP
Doctors inspect a kidney after it was removed during a transplant in 2012.
Doctors inspect a kidney after it was removed during a transplant in 2012.
Organ transplant data
The lead author of the study, Dr. Raymond Givens of New York's Columbia University, presented the results at an American Heart Association conference in Orlando, Florida on Monday. Dr. Givens found the wealthy can more easily get on multiple transplant waiting lists, making it less likely they'll die while waiting for a kidney, heart or other organ.
Organs are supposed to be given to the sickest patients who have waited the longest but many wealthy patients can afford to put themselves on two, three or more wait lists, travelling to other states and paying the fees for the tests needed at each one. Tests can cost from $23,000 for a kidney all the way up to $51,000 for a heart.
"Multiple-listed patients were more likely to get transplanted and less likely to die," Dr. Givens said. He adds that getting on more than one wait list is a "rational thing to do" for those who can afford it.
Some states, such as New York, have comparatively fewer organs available, while others, such as California, have more. Wealthy people from New York often travel to California and pay for tests and get on wait lists there.
Comment: Such gross excessive hording of wealth! Meanwhile an estimated 100 million people in the world are homeless; approximately 795 million do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life; and nearly half the world (3.5 billion people) have less than $2.50 per day to survive and according to UNICEF 22,000 children die every day due to extreme poverty.