A government official on July 22 promised to improve oversight and operation of America’s organ transplant system, following an investigation that found that some patients marked for organ donation showed signs of life but were not immediately removed from the process, among other problems.
“I apologize for care delivered to your constituents in Kentucky,” Dr. Raymond Lynch, the chief of the Organ Transplant Branch of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), told Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) during a hearing in Washington. “It’s unacceptable, and it’s something we’re not going to let stand.”
Lynch said the primary problem identified in HRSA’s investigation of Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, now part of an organ procurement organization called Network of Hope, was that the organization failed to reevaluate initial neurological exams of potential donors when they showed signs of improvement….