People Leaving Organ Donor Programs After Harvesting Mistake

From PJ Media: "People Opting Out of Organ Donor Programs After Reports of a Donor Mistakenly Declared Dead." The incident in question is one I recently posted about, where doctors very nearly harvested organs from a man--33-year-old Anthony Hoover (known as "TJ")--who was very much alive. In the wake of the story garnishing national attention, "Donate Life America found an average of 170 people a day removed themselves from the national donor registry in the week following media coverage of the allegations – 10 times more than the same week in 2023[.]"

    The headline, I think, misstates the issue. I doubt it was the fact that Hoover was mistakenly declared dead, but rather that after Hoover showed signs of life during a test of his heart, "[i]nstead of stopping the procedure, the cardiologist gave TJ a paralytic called rocuronium and sedated him further with midazolam and fentanyl so the test could be completed." And, further, that once Hoover was in the operating room and the staff there realized he was still alive, the organ harvesting entity--Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA)--reportedly directed its employee to find a doctor that would go ahead with procedure anyway. In short, I think that what upsets people is that KODA and at least one of the physicians involved appeared willing to kill the man in order to harvest his organs.