Equity in the selection of recipients for cardiac transplants.

The problem of perceived inequities in the distribution of hearts and other solid organs for the purposes of transplantation. In recent years there has been a great deal of discussion of problems in the allocation of hearts and other organs for the purposes of transplantation."2 Charges of bias and discrimination have haunted those involved in the procurement and distribution of or- gans. Many observers of the transplantation field have worried about making organs procured in the United States available to recipients who are not American citizens,3 while others have bemoaned the practice of shipping kidneys procured in the United States over- seas to those institutions willing to pay for them.4' Likewise, there have been many criticisms leveled at the everyday practice of most transplant centers of requiring those needing transplants to prove their abili- ty to pay for such surgery in advance of any determina- tion of their eligibility.6