Effort to Remedy Harm from Biased Kidney Test Helps Black Transplant Candidates

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A racially biased medical test that for years kept Black people from getting kidney transplants has been addressed through an unprecedented effort to reverse the effects. Researchers found that thousands of Black transplant candidates have been given credit on the transplant waiting list for time they lost due to the flawed test, moving up their priority in an attempt at restorative justice. The policy change has led to an increase in kidney transplant rates for Black patients.

Why it matters

The biased kidney test exacerbated existing disparities that make Black Americans more at risk of needing a new kidney but less likely to get one. They are over three times more likely than white people to experience kidney failure and make up about 30% of the kidney transplant list. This effort aims to address this longstanding racial inequity in access to life-saving organ transplants.

The details

In 1999, an equation used to calculate kidney function was modified to adjust Black people's results compared to everyone else's, based on some studies with small numbers of Black patients and a long-ago false theory about differences in creatinine levels. This made Black patients' kidneys appear healthier than they really were, delaying diagnosis of impending organ failure and referral for transplant. After the U.S. transplant system ended use of the race-based test, it ordered hospitals to determine which Black patients on their transplant lists could have qualified for a new kidney sooner and credit them with that time.

• The policy change went into effect in January 2023.
• The study analyzed kidney transplant data from January 2022 to June 2025.

What they’re saying

What’s next

Researchers say Black patients more recently added to the transplant list should ask if they may also be eligible for wait-time modifications, as the ordered lookback to change wait times happened in 2023.