U.S. Citizens are Dying Needlessly Due to Our Organ Shortage

We seem unwilling to admit that our existing strategies cannot resolve the

organ transplant shortage gap

Why Should We Care?

1 in 3 American adults are currently at risk for developing kidney disease.   The risk increases to 1 in 2 over the course of a lifetime.

An estimated 31 million people (10% of U.S. population) have chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Kidney disease is the 8th leading cause of death in the United States…killing over 90,000 Americans every year – more than breast and prostate cancer combined.

Every day 14 - 30 people die waiting for a kidney.

Primary Source: American Kidney Fund … http://www.kidneyfund.org/about-us/assets/pdfs/akf-kidneydiseasestatistics-2012.pdf

End stage renal disease (ESRD) is the last stage of CKD and is the time when dialysis or transplant is needed to stay alive.

There are 120,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a lifesaving organ transplant, more than 100,000 need a kidney (84%) but fewer than 17,000 people receive one each year.

Approximately 430,000 Americans are currently on dialysis. Without a transplant, they have an average life expectancy of about five years. The longer they are on dialysis…the less likely a subsequent transplant will be successful.

Approximately 185,000 lucky individuals are alive today thanks to receiving a functioning kidney transplant.

So What Does This Mean …

People are DYING for a Solution

90,000 per year

246 per day

10+ per hour

1 every 6 min

How long do we have to wait?

106,566 Candidates On Kidney Wait List – 2013 Outcomes…

A Transplant is Your Best Option

Kidney Transplant Facts

16,894 Kidney Transplants in 2013 34% Living Donor 66% Deceased Donor

Kidney Transplant Wait List – 106,566

Current supply of kidney organs only serve less than 16% of wait list demand!

2013 Kidney Donor Transplants

11,161

5,733

Living DonorDeceased Donor

Living Kidney Donor Facts…

Living Donors 5,733 kidneys 83% donations from

family/spouse/friend 60% Male/40%

Female 50% Age 50 & up Living donor trend

has declined over last 8 years even though some states offer tax credits/deductions or leave of absence

Current Reimbursement Practices Have NOT Been Effective In Soliciting More

Live Transplant Organ Donors

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Liv

e T

ran

sp

lan

t D

on

ors

Total Living Donors (50) Leave of Absence Only (27) Tax Credit/Deduction (17)

Both Leave/Tax C-D (13) Neither Reimbursement (19)

Deceased Kidney Donor Facts

Deceased Donors 11,161 kidneys

from 7,546 actual donors

1.48 kidney per donor

Over 100 Million citizens registered as organ donor candidates

Of 2.5 million who died in 2013…less than 1% became an actual deceased organ donor!

Total U.S. Population = 316,128,839 Adult Population = 240,257,918 Current Registry Sign Ups = 100,000,000+

(now 41.6% of all U.S. Adults) 100% Sign Ups = 2.4 Times Current rate Current Deceased Transplants = 11,161 100% Sign Up Level = 26,786 Transplants

If We Sign Up EVERY ADULT in the USA to be a Deceased Donor Someday…

We would STILL only satisfy 25% of our CURRENT Demand with Kidneys from Deceased Donors!

HARVESTING KIDNEYS from LESS THAN

1% of people who die each year

is a losing proposition …

100,253 on Kidney Wait List (as of 4/25/2014)

2013 Wait List Additions – 36,397

2013 Wait List Removals – 29,647*

*7,422 either died or were too sick for transplant

It’s Mathematically Impossible…

We Need to Face Reality …

Our current approach is simply inadequate to meet our current and future organ transplant needs

We Have Great Medical Staffs …

235+ U.S. Hospitals perform Kidney transplants Kidney transplant is one of the most cost-

effective surgery interventions available Primary Medicare Cost for transplant through

one year post-transplant is comparable to one year cost of dialysis

Our hospitals are operating UNDER capacity…they need MORE organ donors!

No Shortage of Valuable Resources

The Solution…

Emphasis only on Deceased Donor Registrations will NEVER be adequate to meet demand

Need MORE emphasis on Living Organ Donors as these transplants are MORE successful and LONGER LASTING than Deceased Donor transplants

Dialysis Medicare Costs are Higher than Transplant Costs over the life of the patient

Living Donor Transplants are the BEST option to fill the kidney organ shortage gap!

Recommendations

Modify existing 1984 law to make it affordable for Living Donors to donate a kidney

Resolve the gap between deceased donor candidate sign-ups and actual deceased organ transplant donors Better integration of Hospital/Hospice/Funeral Home/Family

to comply with deceased’s commitment to become an organ donor

Formal documentation of reason(s) organs not harvested for any designated deceased donor

Educate General Public/Hospitals/Medical Staff on NEED for Encouraging Organ Transplant Participation

Years Major War U.S. Deaths

1917 - 1918 World War I 116,516

1941 - 1945 World War II 405,399

1950 - 1953 Korean War 36,516

1955 - 1975 Vietnam War 58,209

2001 - Present Iraq / Afghanistan 6,717

623,357

3 Times Higher than all U.S. War Deaths in last 100 years!

1980 - Present War on Kidney Disease 1,900,992

Let’s Declare War on Kidney Disease!

PLEASE sign this petition to explore ways that we can compensate eligible living donors

to save lives and help curb our “out-of-control” healthcare costs.

Click Here to Sign Petition

Thanks for taking this first step in helping someone with Kidney Disease…please share this petition

request with others and consider becoming a donor!

Start Now by Signing this Petition

Will You Help???

Thus far … we have all failed to resolve this serious organ transplant shortage gap.

Far worst … there is a solution in our grasp that would SAVE lives today by making living organ transplant donations more affordable for everyone.

Help get this message out … otherwise, 90,000 more will continue to die each year without our intervention.

Thanks for your consideration!