Race removed as a factor in kidney function test, allowing Minneapolis women to get a transplant sooner

MINNEAPOLIS— A major change in the medical world is making kidney transplants more racially equitable.

Race is no longer considered an important test to estimate kidney function.

Bernadeia Johnson, a black woman from Minneapolis, underwent a kidney transplant last month.

“I’m doing so well,” she said.

Suffering from stage five chronic kidney disease, Johnson lost five donors until the sixth proved to be the charm.

“I had to show a certain level of strength, but I have to tell you, no one should have to show that much strength,” she said. “It was very difficult.”

There are several factors that determine whether someone is placed on the waiting list for a transplant, including of course whether there is a match, but one of the factors is how long the wait has been.

Johnson got a big boost there.

“I was on the list for two years, but after they did the recalculation, I was on the list for five years and eight months,” she said.

That adjustment was due to race being removed as part of a test that estimates kidney function.

“I could still wait,” Johnson said.

Dr. Kirsten Johansen, head of nephrology at Hennepin Healthcare, says the test has systematically pushed black people’s results higher, which in some cases may have affected their suitability for a transplant.

“They required all the transplant centers to go back and reevaluate… and then go through the records of all the black patients to see if they could document that, under the newer equation, they would have previously had a lower estimated kidney function, and then to return their time to fit,” said Johansen.

Johansen says there is still much work to be done to address racial disparities in health outcomes.

“Among people with kidney failure who require dialysis or transplantation, it is almost four times higher for black people than for white people,” she said. “It’s also higher among Hispanics.”

In Johnson’s case, the culprits were diabetes and high blood pressure — two risk factors that are more common among black people.

“There is no silver bullet for all of this,” she said. “I’m just trying to take control of my own health and become my best advocate.”