Patients showing signs of life were being targeted for organ harvesting, according to a new investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services. The system meant to save lives is now under fire for practices that may have cost them.
Key Facts:
- The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) found organ procurement began on patients who were not fully deceased.
- Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced a crackdown and new safety reforms following the investigation.
- At least 28 patients may have been alive when the organ donation process started, based on HRSA’s review.
- The organ procurement organization (OPO) under investigation serves Kentucky, southwest Ohio, and parts of West Virginia.
- HRSA will decertify the OPO if it fails to implement mandated corrective actions.
The Rest of The Story:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is launching a sweeping reform of the nation’s organ transplant system.
This comes after a federal probe revealed that a major organ procurement organization began harvesting organs from patients who still showed signs of life.
“Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” Kennedy said.
The investigation was spearheaded by HRSA and focused on the federally funded OPO responsible for parts of Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia.
The agency reviewed 351 failed donation cases. In nearly 30% of them, there were major red flags—most disturbingly, at least 28 involved patients who might not have been legally dead.
The report exposed numerous flaws: improper neurologic assessments, breakdowns in hospital communication, questionable consent practices, and cases where overdose deaths were misclassified.
These issues were most frequent in smaller, rural hospitals, where oversight is often weaker.
In response, HRSA is requiring the OPO to correct its internal policies, including adherence to the five-minute observation rule after death, and the ability for any staffer to halt the process if they have safety concerns.
RFK Jr. is launching a ‘major initiative’ to reform organ transplants due to ‘disturbing practices’ and ‘systemic disregard for sanctity of life.’ The HHS found that patients who were not dead were taken for organ procurement.https://t.co/eo2GJKkK5U pic.twitter.com/47Xhw7UP1G
— LifeSiteNews (@LifeSite) July 24, 2025
Commentary:
This scandal is stomach-turning and infuriating. It’s not just a failure of policy—it’s a betrayal of trust and basic human dignity.
Patients who weren’t even dead were being treated as nothing more than a source of spare parts. This is the sort of moral rot that festers when profit and bureaucracy overtake compassion and accountability.
No one should donate their organs under the current system. Opt out. Full stop.
Until the entire organ transplant network is rebuilt from the ground up with real transparency and criminal penalties, no American can assume their loved one will be treated ethically at the end of life.
The fact that these cases were closed without action under the previous administration shows how deeply corrupt and broken this system is.
The people involved, from top to bottom, must be held accountable. Anyone who knowingly participated in or covered up this horror show should be prosecuted. If convicted, they should be sent to prison for the rest of their lives.
This is not medicine. It’s butchery under the guise of charity, and the federal government helped fund it. The OPOs have become profit-driven entities shielded from consequences by bureaucrats and lobbyists.
That must end. It’s time to remove financial incentives from every part of the organ donation process.
If the only way we can get organs is by encouraging aggressive harvesting for profit, then we have no ethical system at all.
End it. And OPOs? Disband them. Repeal their protections.
Put the responsibility for organ allocation back into the hands of transparent, accountable, publicly overseen medical bodies—not middlemen who prey on grief and confusion for a paycheck.
Until then, protect your family. Opt out of organ donation. The system can’t be trusted until it’s been overhauled.
The Bottom Line:
The federal government has confirmed that organ harvesting may have begun before patients were fully dead.
This failure wasn’t isolated—it was systemic, and it put the lives of vulnerable Americans at risk.
Accountability must follow.
No one should participate in organ donation until this corrupt network is dismantled and rebuilt from scratch.
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