Trump's week in review: World Vision grants; birth tourism ban; organ procurement group decertified

4. HHS decertifies organ procurement organization

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is beginning the process of decertifying the Network for Hope. Identified as “the federally designated organ procurement organization” that serves Kentucky as well as parts of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, HHS alleged that “multiple federal reviews found persistent patient safety failures despite extensive oversight and despite Network for Hope having been provided repeated opportunities to correct them.” 

The most striking finding that led to Network for Hope’s decertification was the discovery that “some potential donors may not have been deceased at the time organ procurement was initiated — raising serious questions.”

Additional causes for concern include “73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation” as well as “poor neurologic assessments, lack of coordination with medical teams, questionable consent practices, and misclassification of causes of death, particularly in overdose cases.”

“Those failures put prospective organ donors and patients awaiting lifesaving transplants at risk,” HHS warned. “Americans who choose to become organ donors deserve a system that honors their gift and protects every patient."

Network for Hope has pushed back on HHS's assertions in a statement shared with media.  

"Network for Hope (NFH) strongly disagrees with Secretary [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s] decision to decertify our organization and will appeal this decision," the organization said in a statement.

"NFH is compliant with all OPTN policies and has implemented a first-of-its-kind 'pause in procedure' process. This pause process is now Kentucky law and NFH proudly worked hand-in-hand with legislators and regulators by providing input in the drafting both of the new law and its implementing regulations. Despite this, and despite NFH’s demonstrated dedication to improving organ and tissue donation outcomes across its service area, Secretary Kennedy has acted to decertify our OPO that serves seven million people across four states. Under HRSA’s oversight, organ donation went down for the first time in 14 years. As a result, more than 3,000 people waiting for a life-saving organ transplant will be negatively impacted by the decision announced today."