How many organs do we really need?

The Washington Post reports that up to a third of the people on the national transplant list are ineligible for transplant. Why this matters (besides the logistical inefficiencies and delays it could entail): because reports based on a "padded" list would tend to overstate the need for organ donations. As the WaPo story notes, this is bad PR for the transplant world (and for UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the allocation of donor organs in the US, in particular)... and bad timing, too, given recent news coverage of the California surgeon accused of hastening a patient's death in order to harvest his organs for donation.