More than 6,000 people die in the United States each year while waiting for a kidney, liver, or heart transplant. Yet several thousand times per year,The longstanding problems have prompted a newto overhaul the system. Philadelphia kidney specialist Jerry McCauley is among many who welcome the plan — even though he is president of the organization that has drawn most of the criticism.
McCauley agrees that there is room for improvement, but he says some of the criticism is misdirected. In some cases, patients have died or become gravely ill after being transplanted with organs that were diseased or marked with the wrong blood type, according to the Senate investigation. Unlike hearts and lungs, which deteriorate more rapidly and are typically rushed to hospitals via special organ-transport flights, kidneys travel in the cargo holds of commercial