Organ transplant groups use loophole to boost ratings

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan congressional report to be released publicly Tuesday alleges that the organizations responsible for recovering donated organs for transplantation use a federal loophole to miscount the number of organs to boost performance ratings and stay certified.

The report, shared exclusively with STAT from the offices of Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), comes as the Department of Health and Human Services is in the midst of a massive modernization of the federal organ transplantation network.

A law signed in 2023 by former President Biden ordered HHS to solicit new contracts from private and nonprofit organizations to modernize and run parts of the 40-year-old system after years of congressional inquiry found mismanagement by the single nonprofit contracted to run the network.