Native Americans are significantly underrepresented on the national liver transplant list in the United States, despite experiencing the highest death rates from liver disease. An investigation by The Markup and The Washington Post revealed that white individuals are nearly three times more likely to be placed on the transplant list compared to Native Americans, based on an analysis of four years of transplant data.
The study found that if transplant rates were equitable, approximately 1,000 more Native Americans would have received liver transplants between 2018 and 2021. The data indicates that access to the transplant list is a critical factor in this disparity, as Native Americans who are listed for a transplant proceed to surgery at similar rates to white patients.
Dr. Jewel Mullen, Associate Dean for Health Equity at the University of Texas at Austin’s medical school, emphasized the broader societal impact of such disparities, advocating for fairness as a core value in healthcare. The analysis also highlighted regional disparities, with white people in Washington, D.C., and Arkansas being twice as likely to make the transplant list as Black individuals when considering liver disease mortality rates.
This underrepresentation of Native Americans in the liver transplant system underscores the ongoing challenges in addressing health disparities among different racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. healthcare system.
See “A Death Sentence: Native Americans Shut Out of the Nation’s Liver Transplant System” by Annie Gilbertson and Ben Tanen on The Markup website (February 8, 2024)
