Reducing the Shortage of Transplant Kidneys: A Lost Opportunity for the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
During the past 3 decades in the United States, tens of thousands of patients with kidney failure have died while awaiting transplantation owing to a shortage of transplant kidneys. The President’s July 2019 “Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health” included 2 sections specifically aimed at increasing kidney transplantation.1 Section 7 directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to propose regulations to increase the recovery of deceased donor organs and reduce discards, and section 8 directed the Secretary to reduce financial barriers to living organ donation.
