Kidney Transplant Allocation Policy Change Clears Legal Hurdle

A recent change in how donated kidneys are allocated to kidney transplant patients withstood a legal test Monday, when the Eighth Circuit upheld a ruling allowing the policy to take effect while a legal challenge moves forward.

The legal challengers, a group of hospitals and a patient on the kidney waitlist, aren’t likely to succeed on their claim that the move to a “Fixed Circle Policy"—in which kidney priority is given to candidates within 250 nautical miles of the donor’s hospital—was done in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said.

The ...