https://www.hhs.gov/press-room...ack&utm_medium=email

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. today announced a major initiative to begin reforming the organ transplant system following an investigation by its Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) that revealed disturbing practices by a major organ procurement organization.

“Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” Secretary Kennedy said. “The organ procurement organizations that coordinate access to transplants will be held accountable. The entire system must be fixed to ensure that every potential donor’s life is treated with the sanctity it deserves.

”HRSA directed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to reopen a disturbing case involving potentially preventable harm to a neurologically injured patient by the federally-funded organ procurement organization (OPO) serving Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and part of West Virginia. Under the Biden administration, the OPTN’s Membership and Professional Standards Committee closed the same case without action.

Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HRSA demanded a thorough, independent review of the OPO’s conduct and the treatment of vulnerable patients under its care. HRSA’s independent investigation revealed clear negligence after the previous OPTN Board of Directors claimed to find no major concerns in their internal review.HRSA examined 351 cases where organ donation was authorized, but ultimately not completed. It found:103 cases (29.3%) showed concerning features, including 73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation.

At least 28 patients may not have been deceased at the time organ procurement was initiated—raising serious ethical and legal questions.

Evidence pointed to poor neurologic assessments, lack of coordination with medical teams, questionable consent practices, and misclassification of causes of death, particularly in overdose cases.

Vulnerabilities were highest in smaller and rural hospitals, indicating systemic gaps in oversight and accountability. In response to these findings, HRSA has mandated strict corrective actions for the OPO, and system-level changes to safeguard potential organ donors nationally. The OPO must conduct a full root cause analysis of its failure to follow internal protocols—including noncompliance with the five-minute observation rule after the patient’s death—and develop clear, enforceable policies to define donor eligibility criteria. Additionally, it must adopt a formal procedure allowing any staff member to halt a donation process if patient safety concerns arise.

Secretary Kennedy will decertify the OPO if it fails to comply with these corrective action requirements [PDF].HRSA also took action to make sure that patients across the country will be safer when donating organs by directing the OPTN to improve safeguards and monitoring at the national level. Under HRSA’s directive, data about any safety-related stoppages of organ donation called for by families, hospitals, or OPO staff must be reported to regulators, and the OPTN must update policies to strengthen organ procurement safety and provide accurate, complete information about the donation process to families and hospitals.

These findings from HHS confirm what the Trump administration has long warned: entrenched bureaucracies, outdated systems, and reckless disregard for human life have failed to protect our most vulnerable citizens. Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS is restoring integrity and transparency to organ procurement and transplant policy by putting patients’ lives first. These reforms are essential to restoring trust, ensuring informed consent, and protecting the rights and dignity of prospective donors and their families.

HHS recognizes House Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairman Brett Guthrie’s (KY-02) bipartisan work to improve the organ transplant system and looks forward to working with him and other issue-area champions in Congress to deliver reforms.

Sounds a lot like plain old organ trafficking.

I spent 25 year in transplantation and can assure you that this did not go on during my watch. I cannot comment on current practices. I hope this is not true.

RMD

The really sad thing about this (as far as patients who need donated organs) is this news might scare people away from being designated as donors.

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
I spent 25 year in transplantation and can assure you that this did not go on during my watch. I cannot comment on current practices. I hope this is not true.

I was involved in several transplant cases years ago. We'd work our butts off to keep patients "alive" until the transplant team arrived in the room. At that point, when they were ready to start, we'd shut everything off and leave the room. Whether they waited the requisite time, I'm not sure. But, if I had to guess....

Those cases were always a little unsettling, but as I understood it, some organs needed to remain perfused for as long as possible to remain viable.

quote:

Those cases were always a little unsettling, but as I understood it, some organs needed to remain perfused for as long as possible to remain viable.

I suspect this is the case way more often than not.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:
I spent 25 year in transplantation and can assure you that this did not go on during my watch. I cannot comment on current practices. I hope this is not true.

I was involved in several transplant cases years ago. We'd work our butts off to keep patients "alive" until the transplant team arrived in the room. At that point, when they were ready to start, we'd shut everything off and leave the room. Whether they waited the requisite time, I'm not sure. But, if I had to guess....

Those cases were always a little unsettling, but as I understood it, some organs needed to remain perfused for as long as possible to remain viable.

Gustofer, can you please define what you mean by “alive” in these cases?

I’m no doctor and didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn, but I’ve watched a ton of Discovery Health over the years. I’ve always assumed that transplant donors were clinically brain dead, but their hearts were still beating. That to my understanding was the only way the organs could remain viable.

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Originally posted by Broadside:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by rduckwor:

Gustofer, can you please define what you mean by “alive” in these cases?

I’m no doctor and didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn, but I’ve watched a ton of Discovery Health over the years. I’ve always assumed that transplant donors were clinically brain dead, but their hearts were still beating. That to my understanding was the only way the organs could remain viable.

In the early days of brain death determination, it WAS NOT widely accepted by neurosurgeons and attendings. The process in those days was to continue life support measures until in the operating room and then when all was ready, remove support.

A physician, not attached to the transplant team, would remain until the heart stopped and then certify death. The recovery team would then begin the surgical recovery of the organs. This was the so called "non-heartbeating donor".

The recovered organs suffered some injury due to lack of oxygenation and blood flow, but usually recovered function when transplanted. During this period, only kidneys could be recovered due to the requirements of the procedure.

Later, as brain death became recognized as a valid determination of the absence/end of life, the process changed to the point that hearts, livers, and other organs could be recovered and preserved as per your comments regarding the television shows.

RMD

"Taking the organs before you are dead."

Organs are always taken from a living host. That's how it works. You can't harvest organs from a dead body.

I'm not and never will be an "organ donor."

"Brain dead" is a term invented specifically for the purpose of harvesting organs.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
"Taking the organs before you are dead."

Organs are always taken from a living host. That's how it works. You can't harvest organs from a dead body.

This is mostly true.

A good friend died last year from accidental head trauma and his family had to make the call after several weeks to pull the plug. They opted to allow for organ donation, and so we got to see some of that process.

The body had to be kept "alive" until some of the recipients were prepped. Then they prepared to take our friend back to harvest the organs, but one of the doctors noticed some eye and hand movement and was concerned that there might be a chance that he was still mentally viable, so the procedure was cancelled.

He hung on for another week or so with no improvement before he finally died. I believe they were still able to donate some of his organs at that point, but not everything.

From what I saw, the process was very thorough, respectful, and conscientious. The doctors put our friend's care first, and were in no way prioritizing the harvesting of his organs over trying to save him. Unfortunately, this resulted in simply prolonging the suffering of his family and probably some heart-wrenching disappointment for the potential recipients and their families who were already lined up to go. But even considering all of that it was the correct ethical decision to make, IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
"Taking the organs before you are dead."

Organs are always taken from a living host. That's how it works. You can't harvest organs from a dead body.

I'm not and never will be an "organ donor."

"Brain dead" is a term invented specifically for the purpose of harvesting organs.

You're dead wrong. Define "living". Heart beat? Brain function? Awake and alert?

Organ donors today may well have a heart beat, but within minutes after you stop artificially ventilating them, I guarantee you they will no longer have a heart beat.

I won't argue further with you. I have been there literally several hundreds of times and life ALWAYS triumphs in medicine if it is possible to preserve it in any meaningful way.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by rduckwor:

You're dead wrong.

I don't think so. But by all means, check Yes as an organ donor on your license. No skin off my teeth.

If my brain is so damaged that there is no chance of meaningful recovery, and my body can only be kept alive by machines, then quibbling over whether I am brain-dead enough will only prolong my family's agony until the inevitable end. My medical directives instruct that I should not be kept alive by machines under such circumstances, once it is clear that there is no expectation of recovery.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole controversy here?

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
If my brain is so damaged that there is no chance of meaningful recovery, and my body can only be kept alive by machines, then quibbling over whether I am brain-dead enough will only prolong my family's agony until the inevitable end.

My thoughts exactly. What possible reason could I have to delay the harvesting process because, “Oh, look, his hand moved”? Or, “If you take his heart, you will kill him.” No, what kills me is the trauma or disease that put me in that state. (And if I believed I was going to Paradise in an afterlife, I’d be wanting that sooner than later.)

quote:

Originally posted by Fly-Sig:
If my brain is so damaged that there is no chance of meaningful recovery, and my body can only be kept alive by machines, then quibbling over whether I am brain-dead enough will only prolong my family's agony until the inevitable end. My medical directives instruct that I should not be kept alive by machines under such circumstances, once it is clear that there is no expectation of recovery.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole controversy here?

That is my take on it and it always seemed logical. Why prolong the suffering of your family.

I've found that many times the objections are based on a religious belief or a simple fear of actuallly dying