The federal government is initiating the process to decertify and shut down a Kentucky-based organ donation group, Network for Hope, citing persistent safety failures. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. labeled the nonprofit "a bad apple" during a press briefing Wednesday.
The action follows allegations that the organization, or its predecessor, continued with plans to retrieve organs from patients who exhibited signs of life. While specific surgeries were reportedly canceled, these incidents occurred several years ago and led to a national increase in individuals revoking their organ donor registrations.
Network for Hope is one of approximately 55 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) responsible for recovering organs from deceased donors and matching them with recipients on the national transplant list. The organization stated it "strongly disagrees" with the government's decision and intends to appeal.
One critical allegation involves an incident in 2021 where Network for Hope's predecessor organization is accused of pressuring a hospital to proceed with organ retrieval plans for a man who was showing signs of waking up from a drug overdose. The man ultimately survived, and his sister was present at the press briefing, thanking Kennedy.
Under federal policy, OPOs cannot pronounce death; this determination is made solely by a hospital's attending physician. Donation agencies assume responsibility only after a patient is declared deceased. Organs are typically recovered from individuals declared brain-dead, but donation can also occur when families decide to withdraw life support for patients with nonsurvivable injuries.
Network for Hope maintains that it adheres to all federal organ donation policies. The group also stated that over a year ago, it implemented a new safeguard allowing any individual, including health professionals or family members, to pause donation planning if a patient's suitability is questioned. Kentucky has recently enacted a law mandating such a pause, and the federal Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network is developing new rules to require this safeguard across all U.S. OPOs.
More than 100,000 individuals are currently on the U.S. transplant waiting list, with the majority seeking kidneys. Despite a record number of over 49,000 transplants performed last year, there was a slight decrease in deceased organ donations, marking the first decline in a decade.