The model implemented last year is known as “continuous distribution,” and in time, the network plans to use a version of it for all organs.

Not long after the revised algorithm was implemented in lungs, however, the network realized that it was putting patients with type O blood at a disadvantage.

Type O transplant patients are a unique group in that their bodies can tolerate only organs from type O donors. But organs from type O donors can also be successfully transplanted into people with other blood types.

To distribute lungs from type O donors fairly, the special needs of type O patients need to be taken into account. But the revised algorithm made it harder for Type O patients to get new lungs because more of the Type O lungs they need were given to patients of other blood types.

The Organ Procurement Transplant Network said it detected the problem through routine monitoring. The organization detailed a proposed fix last August on a special web page, and the changes were ultimately approved in September.

In October, the network completed a six-month monitoring report detailing the effects of the new lung allocation policies. Its overall results highlighted an increase of lung transplants by 11.2% and fewer candidates dying on the waitlist, among other successes.

The report later noted that “the number of transplants decreased for blood type O recipients (from 646 to 601) and increased for recipients of all other blood types.”

The American Society of Transplant Surgeons took issue with the report, with the group’s top leadership sending a letter in January that criticized the organization for understating the problem and for failing to publish a full analysis of the troubling incident.

“The modeling and data entry error should have been highlighted at the beginning of the document, rather than buried in the middle,” the surgeons wrote. “This manner of disclosure — best characterized as ‘hidden in plain sight’ — obviously has not effectively communicated the implications of the modeling error for patients and does a disservice to the transplant community and the patients we serve.”

The Organ Procurement Transplant Network told the Tribune it will not release its analysis.

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