https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/hhs-decertifies-kentucky-organ-procurement-organization.html
https://www.lex18.com/news/state-of-the-commonwealth/u-s-health-secretary-rfk-jr-decertifies-kentucky-organ-donation-group-during-lexington-visit
The issue of people showing clear signs of life and even consciousness have been documented in the nyt as well.
As a result, people have been re-examining decades old decisions sometimes made in childhood at the dmv counter. In most states, this consent is passed on to a group like Kentucky’s, and they’re the ones that officially process rescinded donor requests. We did that here in California. The experience was glitchy, took several weeks and customer service was nonexistent, but they eventually gave us the letter confirming his deletion from their database. In the future, said the OPO group, he still can donate by making his wishes clear through polst and family. At least family gets a say as to whether it happens vs OPOs automatically getting the say on that it will happen. Family gets no say otherwise.
Unless both you and the family are ok with that, rescinding a blanket permission made through the dmv and replacing it with instructions to the family protects both the family’s autonomy and that of the prospective donor. Some of those who “showed signs of life” minutes before being harvested are walking around now. Hence why hhs did what it did.
Of course, don’t rescind if this isn’t an issue for you or your family. However, if it is for either, the safest thing is to put this decision back in the hands of the individual (through polst) and his or her family. If considering rescinding, it’s imperative to get a letter from the state organ donor group acknowledging you’re no longer in the database vs them reissuing you a license without a donor dot.
Hopefully, the background and the instructions on getting removed on request were informative. You can still donate. They’ll just be asking the family vs telling them.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/10/16/nx-s1-5113976/organ-transplantion-mistake-brain-dead-surgery-still-alive
Natasha Miller says she was getting ready to do her job preserving donated organs for transplantation when the nurses wheeled the donor into the operating room.
She quickly realized something wasn't right. Though the donor had been declared dead, he seemed to her very much alive.
"He was moving around — kind of thrashing. Like, moving, thrashing around on the bed," Miller told NPR in an interview. "And then when we went over there, you could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly."
The donor's condition alarmed everyone in the operating room at Baptist Health hospital in Richmond, Ky., including the two doctors, who refused to participate in the organ retrieval, she says.
The procuring surgeon, he was like, 'I'm out of it. I don't want to have anything to do with it,' " Miller says. "It was very chaotic. Everyone was just very upset."
Miller says she overheard the case coordinator at the hospital for her employer, Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA), call her supervisor for advice.
"So the coordinator calls the supervisor at the time. And she was saying that he was telling her that she needed to 'find another doctor to do it' – that, 'We were going to do this case. She needs to find someone else,' " Miller says. "And she's like, 'There is no one else.' She's crying — the coordinator — because she's getting yelled at."
"Everybody's worst nightmare"
The organ retrieval was canceled. But some KODA workers say they later quit over the October 2021 incident, including another organ preservationist, Nyckoletta Martin.
"I've dedicated my entire life to organ donation and transplant. It's very scary to me now that these things are allowed to happen and there's not more in place to protect donors," says Martin.
Martin was not assigned to the operating room that day, but she says she thought she might get drafted. So she started to review case notes from earlier in the day. She became alarmed when she read that the donor showed signs of life when doctors tried to examine his heart, she says.
The donor had woken up during his procedure that morning for a cardiac catheterization. And he was thrashing around on the table," Martin says.
Cardiac catheterization is performed on potential organ donors to evaluate whether the heart is healthy enough to go to a person in need of a new heart.
Martin says doctors sedated the patient when he woke up and plans to recover his organs proceeded.
KODA officials downplayed the incident afterwards, according to Martin. She was dismayed at that, she says.
"That's everybody's worst nightmare, right? Being alive during surgery and knowing that someone is going to cut you open and take your body parts out?" Martin says. "That's horrifying."
The patient
Donna Rhorer of Richmond, Kentucky, told NPR that her 36-year-old brother, Anthony Thomas "TJ" Hoover II, was the patient involved in the case. He was rushed to the hospital because of a drug overdose, she says.
Rhorer was at the hospital that day. She says she became concerned something wasn't right when TJ appeared to open his eyes and look around as he was being wheeled from intensive care to the operating room.
"It was like it was his way of letting us know, you know, 'Hey, I'm still here,' " Rhorer told NPR in an interview.
But Rhorer says she and other family members were told what they saw was just a common reflex. TJ Hoover now lives with Rhorer, and she serves as his legal guardian.
TJ Hoover danced with his sister, Donna, on her wedding day in May 2023 — more than a year after he was mistakenly declared dead.
Hoover Rhorer family
The general outline of the incident was disclosed in September by a letter Nyckoletta Martin wrote to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which held a hearing investi
From grok
Overview of the Organ Donation Scandal
The organ donation scandal centers around serious allegations regarding unethical practices by organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States. Investigations have revealed that patients who were not brain dead were pressured into organ donation, raising significant ethical concerns.
Key Findings
Unethical Practices
Pressure on Families: Families of patients were reportedly pressured to authorize organ donation, often without full understanding of the patient's condition.
Signs of Life: Some patients showed signs of life during the organ procurement process, which raises questions about the ethicality of proceeding with organ harvesting.
Investigative Reports
Case Studies: Investigations identified numerous cases where patients were still exhibiting neurological activity, yet the organ donation process was initiated. For example:
One patient was observed moving and looking around while awaiting organ harvest.
Another patient, initially unresponsive, began to improve even as the donation process was underway.
Legislative Response
Congressional Hearings: In light of these findings, Congress is conducting hearings to address the issues and consider reforms to ensure ethical practices in organ donation.
Ethical Implications
The scandal highlights the need for strict oversight and accountability in the organ donation system. It emphasizes the importance of respecting patients' rights and ensuring that families are fully informed before making decisions about organ donation.
The ongoing investigations and potential reforms aim to safeguard the integrity of the organ donation process and protect vulnerable patients.
My dh came one car accident away from being harvested based on DMV document he signed as a child. And like i said, you can still do it. The opos would like to cut out families entirely. You don’t have to let them even if you do think you want to donate.
Again, CWillie, as I said, if you’re hunky dory with your own situation, swipe left as your grandchildren might say. Walk on by. However, if you ARE in fact uncomfortable with the chaos that hhs may have just started uncovering, there are ways to rescind your relationship with a state OPO while preserving your and your family getting to make a decision to donate vs the OPO telling you.
Oh, and CWillie? My dh made his decision after walking away from a car on fire on a major highway in California. If that went less well, he would not be interested in having us have no agency besides deciding to take the donor walk. It wasn’t for us. Again, if it’s for you, just ignore the information. But for those in the OPO database from age 13 who no longer wish to be, those are the directions to exit it.
Louisville courier journal article