IRVINE, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- The University of California-Irvine hospital rejected a greater percentage of kidneys than most U.S. adult transplant centers, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Patients would have better odds of getting a kidney transplant if they went elsewhere, the newspaper concluded in its analysis of United Network for Organ Sharing data.
The Times said pressure from the newspaper and U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, prompted the national transplant system overseer to release the normally private data.
The small transplant program combined with unavailability of part-time doctors to result in just an 8.7 percent donor kidney acceptance rate.
The problems are similar to those of the university's now-shuttered liver- and struggling bone marrow transplant programs, the newspaper reported.
Chancellor Michael Drake said he is confident the program turned a corner last summer by hiring a new kidney transplant director.
"If I thought for a minute that there were patient safety issues from now going forward, we would close the program," Drake said.
