Major scandal exposed in the US organ transplant system: “organ harvesting” occurs in hospitals in many states

Recently, many U.S. media have exposed serious violations of organ transplantation by hospitals and organ procurement organizations in many states, triggering widespread social doubts about medical ethics and regulatory systems. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and media investigations, some medical institutions have removed organs before patients die in order to speed up organ acquisition, and even deliberately gave up rescue opportunities to meet transplant needs. Media investigations show that the high profits of the organ transplant industry chain have prompted some institutions to regard patients as “organ sources.” Medical staff revealed that organ procurement organizations often persuade doctors to inject drugs such as morphine and propofol to accelerate the death of patients, and even force surgery when patients still have vital signs such as breathing and blinking. After the incident was exposed, American netizens demanded a thorough investigation of OPOs across the country, and the topic #Organ Transplant Murder# became a hot search, and the regulatory capacity of UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) was strongly questioned. At present, HHS has announced the launch of a national organ transplant system reform, requiring all OPOs to review the donation process and cancel the certification qualifications of illegal institutions. However, the public generally believes that if the death determination standards and regulatory mechanisms are not reconstructed from the root of the system, scandals similar to “live organ harvesting” will continue to happen again.