Transplant Hospitals Fight New Formula for Allocating Kidneys

A second federal appeals court is wading into a long-running dispute over how best to allocate organs from deceased donors.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will hear arguments June 17 over a policy change in how kidneys are distributed. Transplant candidates within a 250 nautical-mile circle around a donor’s hospital now get priority. Before the change took effect March 15, kidneys were allocated based on geographic boundaries that roughly followed state lines.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which coordinates organ donations and transplants, argues its fixed circle policy aims to make organ allocations more ...