Issue #15 | November 2025

Welcome to the Science in Donation & Transplant Newsletter!

Four informative new articles in this issue:

1. Organ Donation Is a Safe Life-Giving Procedure

2. Organ Procurement Groups Challenge Federal Rule

3. Misinformation About the End of Life Is Harming Organ Donation

4. ‘The Pitt’ Boosts Organ Donation Sign-Ups and End-of-Life Conversations

Organ Donation Is a Safe Life-Giving Procedure: DCD Facts

By Anne Murphy – Consultant and former Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Learning Health Sciences University of Michigan Medical School, and Transplant Center Administrative Director – University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers

The real news on organ donation is that America’s non-profit system for procuring this life-saving gift for transplant is effective, efficient, and growing, but that growth is slowing. Sensational headlines based on shoddy reporting promoted grossly inaccurate allegations that OPOs began removing organs before the potential donor had died. This reporting that lacks medical and scientific knowledge disregards the facts, laws, and detailed case reviews is causing a decline in willing donors. Let us set the medical and scientific record straight and insist that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services take …

Organ Procurement Groups Challenge Federal Rule

Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court: Read the Summary and Brief – Since its inception, Science in Donation & Transplant predicted that the flawed governing would result in Federal court litigation. A coalition of non-profit organizations involved in organ procurement for transplantation is now suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They argue rightly that the department's new method for evaluating their operations violates federal law and could result in many providers losing their certification. Below is a summary of the litigation, as well as other resources …

Misinformation About the End of Life Is Harming Organ Donation

By Jedidiah Lewis, Heidi Aguiar, and Adam Schiavi. Originally published on Undark – In August, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was “cracking down” on the organ transplant system, which the newspaper attributed, in part, to its own investigative report from July suggesting that U.S. patients had nearly been killed for their organs …

‘The Pitt’ Boosts Organ Donation Sign-Ups and End-of-Life Conversations

By Raquel “Rocky” Harris, originally published on TheWrap – HBO’s Emmy-winning series “The Pitt” is doing more than just getting viewers hooked on its drama; it’s inspiring them to become organ donors and get a head start on their end-of-life planning, a study from the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California (USC) has found …

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Science in Donation and Transplant is a non-profit established in November 2020 devoted to improving OPOs performance and placing patient results above politics.

Our goal is to ensure that the metrics and measures used to credential, license, designate and certify donation and transplant organizations are grounded in science and protected from political whim and private financial influence.