Organ group pushed for harvesting from N.J. patient despite signs of life, whistleblowers allege

One of New Jersey’s largest organ procurement organizations is under investigation by a United States House of Representatives committee for a number of allegations, ranging from discarded organs to a horrific case where the group proceeded with organ recovery in a patient showing signs of life.

The investigation into NJ Sharing Network was launched after nearly a dozen whistleblowers came forward and provided evidence of fraud, cover-ups, and illegal practices, according to a letter sent Wednesday to President and Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Welsh by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Missouri, and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert, R-Arizona.

“The Committee has obtained information about activities performed by NJTO that amount to not only extreme abuse of public trust, but also potential violations of law,” Smith and Schweikert wrote in the letter.

“These allegations raise questions about whether (New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network) should keep its tax-exempt status and highlights the need for potential legislative reforms,” the chairmen wrote.

NJ Sharing Network, officially known as the New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network and based in New Providence, partners with 54 New Jersey hospitals to coordinate recovery and transportation of organs and tissue.

A spokesman for the organization did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment.

The allegations are likely to heighten fears surrounding organ donation and the concern that registered donors won’t get the same standard of care.

In one case at Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden, an organ donor was pronounced deceased but began to show signs of life during the organ recovery process. According to information obtained by House investigators, Welsh told her staff on site that they should proceed with the organ recovery. However, hospital staff intervened.

In several cases, NJ Sharing Network allegedly used New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission documents to unfairly pressure families when individuals changed or renewed licenses and no longer indicated that they wanted to be organ donors.

House investigators also allege NJ Sharing Network ignores the national transplant waiting list and allocates organs out of sequence.

The list ranks over 100,000 Americans waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. The candidates who appear highest in the ranking are those who are in most urgent need of the transplant or those most likely to survive if transplanted, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.

However, NJ Sharing Network is accused of skipping over patients on the list, costing some their lives.

“The Committee has received information that as a result of a single instance of (New Jersey Organ and Tissue Sharing Network) skipping the allocation sequence, several individuals on the waitlist have since passed away, several others have been removed from the waitlist due to worsening medical conditions, and more than 100 recipients that were skipped remain on the list today,” the chairmen wrote.

The organization is also accused of failing to produce documentation about a mass discard of 100 pancreata that occurred on a single day in 2024. Additionally, the nonprofit faces allegations of document destruction, data manipulation, and lying to Congress.

Due to the alarming nature of these allegations, the Ways and Means Committee is demanding documents and interviews from over 30 employees of NJ Sharing Network.

The organization has until Dec. 3 to respond.

There were more than 46,000 organ transplants completed in 2023 in the United States, a new annual record, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.