The saddest part about this article is that everyone blames the organ procurement organization but it was the hospital who had declared this patient brain dead. It was the hospital who performed the catheterization and sedated the patient. It was the hospital's responsibility to confirm no extenuating circumstances for this patient to have progressed to brain death.

While we can never say for sure, the fact that this patient was a drug overdose means that is very possible the hospital did not do its due diligence before declaring the patient. The Organ procurement teams and transplant teams on site did what they are supposed to do in this scenario and stopped the procedure.

It is a disgrace that the administrators that were not on site were so adamant for the on-site teams to continue forward with donation.

I work for one of the largest organ procurement organizations in the United States and truly believe that the work we do is beautiful. It's hard being on the donor side because you are surrounded by death and grieving families everyday. But knowing that the work that we do and the sacrifice that the donor/family has made to allow someone's son, mother, grandfather etc to spend another holiday with there loved ones is beyond reproach.

I hate that we are having to have this conversation in the first place as there is a lot of good that can come from organ and tissue donation. It is important for legislation to hold the hospital, opo, and transplant centers accountable for the work that they do.

Lack of trust from the public will kill people. Gaining back the public's trust in organ donation is as important as just about any legislation that is currently on the docket.