The Crisis Continues: National Organ Waitlist Surpasses 100,000

I need you to sit with this number for a second: 100,000 people. As of 2023, that's how many Americans are on the organ transplant waiting list — and it keeps climbing despite record numbers of transplants being performed each year. The waitlist, maintained by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, represents real people whose lives depend on receiving an organ from a deceased or living donor. After a family member needed a kidney transplant, these numbers stopped being abstract for me. For many on this list, the wait will end in death. That's not just a crisis — it's a policy failure.

Who Is on the Waitlist

The waitlist is overwhelmingly composed of patients needing kidneys — over 88,000 of the 100,000+. Liver patients make up the next largest group at roughly 10,000, followed by those needing hearts, lungs, pancreases, and other organs. The demographics reveal stark inequities: Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but roughly 30% of the kidney waiting list. Hispanic Americans are similarly overrepresented. This isn't just a health crisis — it's a justice issue.

"Behind every number on the waiting list is a person — a parent, a child, a friend — whose life hangs in the balance. 100,000 is not just a statistic. It's a crisis." — OPTN data report

17 Deaths Per Day

This is the number I lead every YCOD presentation with: approximately 17 people die every day in the United States while waiting for an organ transplant. That's one person every 85 minutes. In 2022, over 6,000 people died on the waiting list or were removed because they became too sick to transplant. These deaths are not inevitable — they are the result of a system that does not capture enough donor organs to meet demand. This is a policy problem, not a medical one.

Why the List Keeps Growing

The waitlist grows for several reasons. The population is aging, and chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension — which drive kidney failure — are becoming more prevalent. More patients are being referred for transplant as outcomes improve. And while donation rates have increased, they haven't kept pace with demand. The U.S. opt-in system captures only a fraction of potential donors.

"We are performing more transplants than ever, and yet the list keeps growing. That tells us that incremental improvements aren't enough — we need systemic change." — American Society of Transplantation

YCOD's Call to Action

Here's what I tell every legislator we meet with: the 100,000+ waitlist is the single most compelling argument for opt-out organ donation in America. Countries with opt-out systems consistently have higher donation rates and shorter waiting times. Spain, with its comprehensive opt-out model, has virtually eliminated waitlist deaths for hearts and livers. New York alone has over 8,000 people waiting. I couldn't stay on the sidelines knowing that. No American should die for lack of an organ that someone was willing to donate but never got around to registering. Changing the default saves lives. Bill A07954 can make that happen — and we at YCOD won't stop until it does.