On Monday, Secretary Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new reforms to the Organ Transplant System after an investigation into unethical practices by an organ procurement organization. 

The investigation was triggered after the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) opened an investigation into the 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,” said Secretary Kennedy. HRSA prompted the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to open up a case where there may have been preventable harm to the donor. (RELATED: CDC Vaccine Recommendation Shifts for Kids and Pregnant Women)

The patient, who was overdosed on drugs, was a possible donor for the federally-funded Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) serving Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and part of West Virginia. In 2021, the Kentucky branch pressured a hospital to remove the man’s life support, despite the fact he showed signs of life. 

The doctor noticed that he was regaining consciousness on the way to the Operating Room, when the patient started groaning and moving. The surgery was never performed and the man survived. “Under the Biden administration, the OPTN’s Membership and Professional Standards Committee closed the same case without action,” said the HHS.

The HRSA examined a total of 351 cases related to these concerns. They found at least 28 patients who may have not been deceased at the time of organ procurement. The HHS also mentioned that most of the events occurred in smaller/rural hospitals, calling for the overhaul of the organ transplant network.  (RELATED: Big Beautiful Bill Signed Into Law, Cementing Trump Tax Legacy and Unlocking Next-Term Agenda)