In response to the tragic situation of many people dying because of end-stage failure of a vital organ, a regulated inflation of organ waiting lists has developed unevenly in different countries, which has been reported (probably counterproductively) in newspapers. We believe that such list inflation might be detrimental for the long-term availability of organ transplantation worldwide. We also believe that the definition of the threshold level for every waiting list, the length of waiting lists, and the consequent mismatch between needed and available organs are not only biomedical constructs but are also, a social construct. Accordingly, we contend that these waiting lists should be maintained below an agreed threshold level and propose three criteria that could help to establish such a level.
展开▼
