N.J. Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. stated on March 25, 2021

The New Jersey General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the new Trump organ donation rules now in the hands of the Biden White House. The Biden administration suspended the rule for additional input.

The destructive new rule, driven along in large part by Greg Segal’s Organize, would push the organ donation system into chaos.

Segal and his group of venture capitalists and tech moguls commissioned a report by BloomWorks, opining on the value of private technology interests in the donation system. As always, it’s more money for tech companies and less for direct care.

“Biased, inaccurate information referenced by the previous presidential administration has been used to create detrimental policies that could force many of these OPOs to shut down. Without a plan in place to establish alternate infrastructure in the event of an OPO’s closure, there could be no one left to carry on their efforts to help the thousands of patients awaiting life-saving organs.”

“Our state must oppose any enforcement of these rules, renew our commitment to relying on accurate data, and affirm our support for the OPOs that support our residents.” Said Assemblyman Herbert Conaway Jr. (D Burlington) who is also a physician.

Perhaps even more damning, the Trump rules fly in the face of science and racial equity in healthcare.

Inexplicably, Greg Segal’s Organize supported the exclusion of racial characteristics in grading Organ Procurement Organizations. “We believe that racial characteristics of the Designated Service Area (DSA) should not be a reason for risk-adjusting OPO performance,” the Trump rule states. 

Now Segal touts the Biden Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

Strangely, Segal’s Organize was OK with disregarding racial equity when working with the Trump administration. Now they have a newfound interest in racial equity in healthcare.

Segal’s Organize supports the rule that ranks and then closes Organ Procurement Organization (OPOs) based upon metrics that are deliberately blind to the tangible and measurable role that race and the underserved status play in the healthcare arena.

Segal’s Organize recklessly supported the Trump administration’s anti-science decision to use unreliable death certificates for determining the viability of a donor’s organ for transplantation. Instead of relying on medical records and verifiable information readily available, Segal’s Organize preferred the anti-science position prevalent in Trump rulemaking.

Science in Donation commends the work done by Assemblyman Conaway, the Assembly Health Committee, and the New Jersey General Assembly’s unanimous vote in favor of AR 212. A vote supporting science in rulemaking.