Antidiscrimination Laws and Kidney Transplant for Patients With Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are less likely to receive organ transplants than peers without IDD,1 partially because of disability-based discrimination. There is a growing national momentum to enact and enforce policies to improve equitable access to organ transplants for all patients, including those with IDD.2 ,3 Forty US states have laws prohibiting disability-based discrimination in the organ transplant process (eTable 1 in Supplement 1). These laws differ in the inclusion of 2 specific strengthening provisions: (1) private right of action, which allows private individuals (instead of the government or other federal regulator) to file lawsuits in defense of their rights, and (2) expedited case review, which allows legal cases filed under these statutes to be heard by the court faster given the time-sensitive nature of transplant. We examined the extent to which antidiscrimination laws, and their associated provisions, mitigate disparities in rates of transplant evaluation and receipt for patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) with IDD vs without IDD.