The United States has a severe shortage of kidneys available for transplant. As a result, many thousands of people die every year, and thousands more are condemned to years of painful and costly kidney dialysis until they are finally able to get off the waiting list for organs. Recently, organ transplant organizations have been attempting to alleviate perceived racial disparities in access to organ transplants through policies that in some ways increase the role of racial considerations in deciding who gets priority in the transplant queue, and in other ways reduce it.
