WASHINGTON, D.C. –  In case you missed it, Fox News recently featured Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, who shared his personal experience relating to the importance of ensuring patient safety remains the top priority within the nation’s organ transplant and procurement system. 

In Case You Missed It: 

“House Energy and Commerce Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., spoke to Fox News Digital on Tuesday about how his personal experience with organ transplantation has shaped his view of the system, which he said must ensure families are confident in it so they will not be afraid to donate much-needed organs.  

“On Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing with Dr. Raymond Lynch, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) chief of the organ transplant branch. Current and former leaders of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), Network for Hope, which serves Kentucky, southwest Ohio and parts of Indiana and West Virginia, were also present. 

“The investigation follows a shocking HRSA investigation that found hospitals and OPOs in Kentucky were allowing organ procurement processes to begin despite patients showing signs of life. The investigation ultimately found that, since December 2024, out of 351 cases involving patients who had been authorized for organ procurement, but the organs were ultimately not recovered, 29% showed ‘concerning features’ related to protocols and patient safety, while around 20% exhibited a ‘neurologic status’ not conducive to organ procurement.

“My big concern is people will not – if they don’t have confidence in the system – won’t feel like they’ll register as an organ donor, Guthrie said between panels at Tuesday’s hearing. 

“People need to have confidence in the system, or at least know the questions to ask if they’re in this end stage with their loved one, Guthrie continued. Because when you’re sitting there, and you’re getting prepped to go get your next – hopefully, chance at life – you also, as you sit there, know that there’s some other family in some other emergency room somewhere else having a different experience. And they are losing a loved one, but they’re willing – the loved one, either pre-designated or they’re willing to let their loved one live on by helping somebody else live.

“Guthrie’s experience stems from his mother, who died waiting on a new liver. He recounted how she was, at one point, told they had found her a new liver, but when the surgeon went to go pick up the new organ, it was not in the adequate shape to be transplanted.

“Despite assurances that she was high on the list, Guthrie’s mother never found an organ in time before declining so fast that neither the congressman nor any of his relatives could attempt a live-organ transplant procedure. The live procedure allows a living person to donate a part of their organ, which will later grow back but can help repair the damaged organ in the person receiving the partial transplant.

“Guthrie said that despite the alarming evidence uncovered by HRSA’s investigation, he still intends to keep his donor status, adding we need more people to donate. Currently, around 100,000 people are waiting for an organ transplant.

“While the HRSA investigation probed multiple cases, it highlighted one shocking case in particular where staff were so uncomfortable with commencing the organ procurement process as a result of visible signs of life that some refused to participate. At that point, after staff had witnessed tears rolling down the patient’s face, the process eventually stopped, but not after the patient sat in the operating room getting prepped for organ donation for around 45 minutes.

“This should never have gotten to the point of them being in the operating room, Guthrie said of the case. There were a lot of indications this person was not going to die.

“Guthrie added that the issue is a bipartisan one and said the work will be done when confidence in the system has been shored up.” 

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