What about the deceased-donor list?
Getting on the list for a deceased-donor kidney is not an easy process. Recipients must go through many months--sometimes a year or more--of completing tests and fulfillinng other requirements to be placed on a waiting list. Completion of tests, however, does not mean that a recipient can automatically be listed. He or she must usually be approved for transplant by a committee of transplant professionals. This in itself can take several months. Only after a patient has been approved can he or she then be placed on a waiting list. Once listed, the average wait for a deceased-donor kidney is 3-5 years. During that time, 33% of those who are waiting will die.