Andrew M. Cameron, MD, PhD, Aruna K. Subramanian, MD, PhD, Mark S. Sulkowski, MD, David L. Thomas, MD, MPH, and Kenrad E. Nelson, MD
The medical and non-medical information that a physician should consider when deciding whether or not to place a patient on the organ transplant waiting list.
Unclear regulations and informal data gathering on immigrants who receive or donate organs can cause mistrust and suspicion of the organ allocation system and affect donation rates.
The organ transplantation system is viewed as one of our most equitable health care services, but poor patients are effectively excluded by policy that denies Medicaid coverage of post-transplant immunosuppressant medication.
Newly arrived immigrants seeking health care in the United States encounter several problems including language, cultural, societal, and logistic barriers.
Physicians who treat patients who are on the organ transplant wait list are obligated to share with the rest of the transplant team pertinent confidential information that can affect the patient's eligibility or clinical status.