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3d ago

HHS Orders Overhaul of Organ Transplant System After Probe Finds Harvests Began While Donors Showed Signs of Life

HRSA is threatening to decertify Network for Hope under mandates requiring staff to pause unsafe donations

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 2: A sign is displayed outside of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headquarters at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building on June 2, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stand outside the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building, after it was reported that the Trump administration fired staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the Food and Drug Administration, as it embarked on its plan to cut 10,000 jobs at HHS, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 1, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
Surgical instruments and supplies lay on a cart during a kidney transplant surgery at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington D.C., Tuesday, June 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

Overview

  • HHS has instructed the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to establish formal safety-halt protocols and to define clear donor eligibility criteria
  • An HRSA review of 351 interrupted donation cases found 103 with concerning features, including 73 patients showing neurological signs incompatible with organ retrieval and at least 28 who may not have been deceased when procurement began
  • Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to hold procurement agencies accountable and directed corrective actions after deeming the findings “horrifying”
  • OPTN must conduct root-cause analyses of protocol failures and implement system-level reporting on any safety-related stoppages requested by families, hospital staff or procurement teams
  • A House subcommittee hearing is examining proposed reforms and probing how oversight gaps among HRSA, CMS and OPTN contributed to prior ethical breaches