Horror story

NFH made headlines when reports surfaced about a 2021 incident in which a Kentucky man in his 30s began visibly crying, pulled his knees to his chest, and shook his head as he was wheeled into surgery to have his organs harvested. The man, Anthony Thomas Hoover II, had overdosed and had been unresponsive for two days before his family agreed to donate his organs, believing he would not recover.

But as the organ retrieval neared, he began showing signs of improvement, which allegedly went ignored by organ procurement workers while making the hospital staff deeply uncomfortable. NFH’s predecessor organization, KODA, allegedly pressured hospital staff to move forward with the organ donation. When Hoover was brought into the operating room clearly responsive, doctors involved in the organ retrieval refused to move forward and remove life support.

One worker, Natasha Miller, told NPR that a KODA supervisor was on the phone at the time, demanding that employees find another surgeon who would agree to carry out the retrieval.

The surgery was canceled, and Hoover recovered, though he has lingering neurological injuries. His sister appeared at a press briefing Wednesday announcing the US health department’s efforts to decertify NFH.

In a statement, NFH said it complies with all federal organ policies and, since the incident, implemented a “pause” process that allows anyone involved in a case—from family to health care providers—to pause donation plans if concerns arise. The state of Kentucky subsequently wrote the pause process into law.

More than 103,000 people are on the US organ transplant waiting list, and there were more than 49,000 transplants last year.