This disheartening story comes from The New York Times, via Al Roth’s Market Design Blog. As Roth notes on BlueSky: “Organ donation from deceased donors relies on the assurance that the donor's death was in no way hastened by the subsequent donation. Today's NYT has a report suggesting that careful guidelines were sometimes almost breached.”
From the article:
Four years ago, an unconscious Kentucky man began to awaken as he was about to be removed from life support so his organs could be donated. Even though the man cried, pulled his legs to his chest and shook his head, officials still tried to move forward.
Now, a federal investigation has found that officials at the nonprofit in charge of coordinating organ donations in Kentucky ignored signs of growing alertness not only in that patient but also in dozens of other potential donors. . . .
Although the surgeries didn’t happen, the investigation said multiple patients showed signs of pain or distress while being readied for the procedure. (emphasis mine)
And also:
But the investigation found that the organization’s employees repeatedly pressured families to authorize donation, improperly took over cases from doctors and tried to push hospital staff to remove life support and allow for surgery even if there were indications of growing awareness in patients.
To emphasize (again), none of these organ retrievals went forward. The report is obviously disturbing, nevertheless.
Organ donation from deceased donors relies on the assurance that the donor's death was in no way hastened by the subsequent donation. Today's NYT has a report suggesting that careful guidelines were sometimes almost breached. #medicine #transplants #death
— Al Roth (@alroth.bsky.social) June 6, 2025 at 10:45 AM