THE BEST ORGAN DONATION SYSTEM IN THE WORLD IS UNDER ATTACK

There are few more delicate, precious and lifesaving moments in the medical field than when a grieving family honors their loved one’s decision to donate the gift of life to an anxiously awaiting transplant recipient.

Since its inception in 1984, the organ donation system has been a non-profit enterprise, which has worked. The United States has the best organ donation system in the world.

However, a well-funded attack by venture capitalists is influencing organ donation policy for their own gain. They created a false narrative based on sponsored content, not actual science, and it has our precious system heading for chaos in 2026.

Science in Donation and Transplant (SID&T) was formed to illuminate these forces and ensure that organ donation policy is based on science and not for sale. We are a platform for policy discourse, sound science, and patient and donor-family advocacy.

THE ORIGIN OF ORGAN DONATION IN THE U.S.

The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) established the United States organ donation and transplantation system in 1984.

The law created federally designated non-profit organ procurement organizations (OPOs) to oversee the recovery of organs from deceased individuals. Congress appointed one OPO per service area to ensure efficiency and eliminate competition over the deceased’s bodies and gifts of life. There are now 55 OPOs, and you can find your OPO.

As part of NOTA, OPOs must meet performance standards to keep their federal certification. They are overseen by Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

DRAMATIC INCREASES IN ORGANS DONATED

Deceased donor transplants have set new annual records each of the past 14 years. In 2024:

●      OPOs and transplant centers set a record of 48,149 transplants, 41,119 from deceased donors and 7,030 from living donors

●      This was a 3.3% increase since 2023 total and a 23.3% over the past five years

●      16,988 deceased donors and 7,030 living donors made these life-saving procedures possible

The OPO system continues to recover far more kidneys than are transplanted:

●      New research shows that OPOs increased the number of organs offered to patients by 58.4% in four years, from 27.12 million in 2020 to 42.98 million in 2024.

●      If a patient dies waiting for a kidney, research shows they have received an average of 16 organ offers.

●      Nearly 30% of recovered kidneys were discarded because transplant centers would not utilize them.

OPOs ARE UNDER ATTACK

In 2014, OPOs became the target of a coordinated and well-funded media attack orchestrated by Organize, a group founded by venture capitalists and funded in large part by Enron money. 

In 2016, Organize hired Bridgespan Group for $114,000 to draft a white paper that used inaccurate data to “prove” that OPO performance is at the root of the organ shortage. Their findings have since been disproved. By 2017, Organize was lobbying aggressively and expanding its media campaign, using the Bridgespan report as evidence.

REAL REFORM IGNORED

In 2019, Congress mandated and funded the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to report on improving OPO and transplant center systems.

Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System was a landmark study published in 2022 providing clear recommendations supported by experts, which both CMS and Congress have ignored.

CMS FINAL RULE

In 2020, CMS created the “Final Rule” to measure OPO performance and rank OPOs into three tiers. The Flawed rule threatens the nation’s non-profit organ donation system.

A growing number of peer-reviewed research studies provide scientific evidence showing that the Final Rule requires the production of inaccurate rankings and will decertify the wrong OPOs. CMS has a long history of failing to develop a reliable assessment of OPOs.

The current metric assumes that the causes of death that allow for donation are consistent and uniform annually and nationwide. This assumption creates false measurements. As a result, 40% of OPOs could be shuttered in 2026, creating chaos and costing lives.

WHO IS SID&T

Donation and transplantation is a rare medical area in which America leads the world. Science in Donation & Transplant and its expert Advisory Board, aim to be a platform for promoting the best policies for the entire industry, from OPOs to transplant centers and donor hospitals.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Join SID&T in our efforts to advocate for constructive reform and a well-aligned, science-based organ donation and transplant system.

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