10. Transplant Patients Forced to Wait When Organ Donors Cannot Get Visas

The New York Times recently published an article on the difficulties organ donors from outside the United States face when trying to enter the United States to give the organ to a relative.   These difficulties have forced sick relatives in the U.S. to languish on transplant lists for months or years.  When patients need a transplant, the most likely match for an organ donor is a relative.  For those with family members outside the United States, the process becomes more complicated.

These complications include visa denials and the costs for the donor to travel to the U.S. and undergo organ removal operations requiring weeks of recovery in the hospital.  According to transplant directors, it has become harder for foreign organ donors to enter the U.S. under the visa restrictions imposed after 9/11.  Also, the current economic situation has caused insurance companies to cut back on reimbursing organ donors expenses, such as travel and hospital stays.

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, the organization that manages the nation’s organ transplant system, there are currently over 120,000 people on organ transplant waiting lists across the United States.  

Over 60,000 of those on the list are black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, Pacific Islander or describe themselves as multiracial, according to the organ sharing network. Of those, over 6,000 are resident aliens in the United States.  Illegal immigrants are not allowed on the transplant list.

Since there is no medical visa category, organ donors must qualify for a B-1/B-2 visa, also known as a tourist visa.  According to the U.S. Department of State, U.S. embassies and consulates try to expedite these visas for life or death situations, such as an organ transplant. 

For the last five years, the State Department has required foreign donor candidates to get preliminary testing done in their home country.  Blood-collection tubes are mailed to the prospective donor, and once filled, they are mailed back for testing. If the testing shows that a prospective donor could be a match with the patient, the State Department will take that into consideration when reviewing the visa application.  However, even if the blood test shows that a prospective donor could be an organ match, the visa still may be denied.

If the organ donor cannot get to the U.S., the transplant patient then goes on the organ transplant list to receive an organ from someone who has died.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/us/21transplants.html?_r=1

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