How Do You Decide Who Gets Lungs? : Planet Money Unlike many scarce resources, lungs aren't for sale. So doctors have had to figure out how to allocate them.

How Do You Decide Who Gets Lungs?

How Do You Decide Who Gets Lungs?

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A message from Ashley Dias
Chana Joffe-Walt/NPR

Ashley Dias is 26 years old. She has cystic fibrosis. About six weeks ago, her lungs gave out. She was rushed to the Cleveland Clinic and told she'd need a lung transplant to survive.

Lungs are a scarce resource. But unlike many scarce resources, lungs aren't for sale. So doctors have had to develop a system to allocate them.

Ashley's life depends on that system.

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