a man who had suffered a cardiac arrest and had been declared with brain death He woke up while surgeons in his home state of Kentucky were in the middle of removing his organs to be donated. As reported Thursday by both National Public Radio and Kentucky news station WKYT, the case of Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II is being investigated by state and federal government officials.
Officials in the U.S. organ procurement system insist there are safeguards to prevent these types of episodesalthough his family told the media that his experience highlights the need for at least some reform.
Hospitalized for drug overdose
Hoover’s sister, Donna Rhorer, recounted how Hoover was taken to Baptist Health hospital in Richmond, Kentucky, in October 2021 due to a drug overdose. Doctors soon told Rhorer and his relatives that Hoover lacked reflexes or brain activityand ultimately decided to take him off life support, as WKYT noted.
Baptist staff reportedly told Rhorer and his family that Hoover had given permission for his organs would be donated in case he died. To honor his wishes, the hospital conducted tests to determine which of his organs would be viable for donation, and even held a ceremony in his honor.
His eyes opened
Rhorer said he noticed that Hoover’s eyes They opened and apparently followed the movements of their loved oneaccording to WKYT. «They told us they were just reflections“Something normal,” he told the media. “Who are we to question the medical system?” About an hour after Hoover was taken into surgery to remove his organs, a doctor came out and explained that Hoover “wasn’t ready.” “He woke up”Rhorer said.
Rhorer recalled that he was instructed to bring his brother home and make him comfortable, even though he probably wouldn’t live much longer. As he told WKYT, he has been taking care of Hoover for the past three years.
“They told us they were just reflexes, something normal,” he told the outlet. “Who are we to question the medical system?”
WKYT reported that Rhorer only learned the full details of his brother’s surgery from Baptist and Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (Koda) in January. That’s when a former Koda employee contacted her before sending a letter to a congressional committee that held a hearing in September to examine organ procurement organizations, NPR reported.
He began to “roll” on the operating table
The letter’s author said she saw Hoover begin to “roll around” on the operating table and also “visibly cry”according to NPR. In response to accounts relayed by Rhorer to WKYT and NPR, Baptist Health said in a statement that patient safety was its “top priority.” “We work closely with our patients and their families to ensure that our patients’ wishes regarding organ donation are respected,” the hospital statement said.
Koda issued his own statement to NPR, maintaining that Hoover’s case “has not been accurately represented,” that the organization has never harvested organs from live patients and that no one there has been pressured to do so. A statement to WKYT from the Network for Hope organization, which Koda joined in May, said groups like hers “are not involved in patient care… they do not declare death… [y] “They only have the authority to proceed with organ donation recovery after death has been declared by the patient’s independent healthcare provider.”
“He tried to tell me, ‘Hello, I’m here,’ but they ignored him.”
However, WKYT and NPR reported that the state attorney general’s office, as well as a federal agency that helps oversee organ procurement, are investigating Hoover’s case.
An “isolated case”
NPR has worried that some observers fear that the media attention the Hoover case has generated could undermine an organ transplant system with a waiting listmore than 100,000 people. A medical ethics professor NPR spoke to said all indications are that cases like Hoover’s are generally “isolated cases that hopefully we can resolve and prevent from happening again.”
But Rhorer defended his decision to make Hoover’s story public, saying it would be worth sharing if it could “give another family the courage to speak out or if it could save another life.”
“He tried to tell me, ‘Hello, I’m here,’ but they ignored him.”Rhorer told WKYT. «Finally, they stopped the procedure because he showed too many signs of life. «Deep down in my heart, I knew something was happening, but I compared it to David and Goliath. Who am I to confront the medical system?
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