By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-06 01:36:04 | Updated at 2026-08-06 09:06:16
10 hours ago
The federal government has moved to cut ties with a Kentucky-based organ procurement organization after federal investigators found it tried to remove organs from critically ill patients who were showing signs of life.
Network for Hope (NFH), the nonprofit that coordinates organ donations across Kentucky and parts of Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, was decertified Wednesday after an investigation found ‘serious deficiencies’ in nearly 30 percent of the cases examined.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, who announced the decision in Lexington, called the organization a ‘bad apple’ that forced the government to intervene after repeated warnings.
Kennedy said: ‘Federal reviewers found serious deficiencies in nearly 30 percent of the cases that they examined.
‘We found patients placed on the organ donation pathway who should have never been there. We found repeated failures in clinical judgment, oversight and patient safety.’
A spokesperson for NFH said it 'strongly disagreed' with the move and plans to appeal.
The decision came after a federal investigation into the case of Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II, a 36-year-old Kentucky man who woke up in 2021 as doctors prepared to remove his organs.
Hoover had been rushed to Baptist Health Hospital in Richmond following a drug overdose. Doctors declared him brain dead, and his family authorized organ donation, believing there was no hope of recovery.
Federal officials decertified Network for Hope after finding serious deficiencies in nearly one-third of cases, with RFK Jr. calling the organ donation group a 'bad apple'
But as Hoover was wheeled into the operating room, he began thrashing on the table, making eye contact, and crying, according to former employees who were present.
A hospital doctor ultimately refused to remove him from life support, and Hoover survived – though he still lives with neurological injuries.
Announcing the delisting today, health officials also reported the results of their investigation into NFH, previously known as Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (KODA).
For the investigation, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reviewed 351 cases where organ donation was authorized but ultimately not completed at the organization.
Of those, 103 cases, or 29.3 percent, showed ‘concerning features', they said.
Seventy-three patients – over 20 percent – displayed neurological signs indicating they were still alive when the organization tried to harvest their organs, the report said.
Health officials also claimed that at least 28 patients may not have been deceased at the time procurement was initiated
Additionally, the investigation uncovered what it said were poor neurologic assessments, questionable consent practices and misclassification of causes of death, particularly in overdose cases where patients were temporarily showing depressed mental status from drug effects rather than terminal illness.
Thomas 'TJ' Hoover II had been rushed to the hospital following a drug overdose. His sister, Donna Rhorer, shared that Hoover got into narcotics after dealing with PTSD, anxiety and depression
TJ Hoover still lives with neurological injuries after waking up during organ procurement surgery in 2021. His sister Donna Rhorer has been his caregiver for years
NFH CEO Barry Massa said the organization ‘strongly disagrees’ with Kennedy's decision and plans to appeal.
'NFH is compliant with all OPTN policies and has implemented a first-of-its-kind "pause in procedure" process,' Massa said in a statement.
'Despite this, and despite NFH's demonstrated dedication to improving organ and tissue donation outcomes across its service area, Secretary Kennedy has acted to decertify our OPO that serves seven million people across four states.’
Natasha Miller, a former organ preservationist with NFH, was in the operating room the day Hoover was taken for his organs to be harvested.
She previously told the Daily Mail: ‘I was just trying to focus on my job, and then once I actually saw him for myself, crying, that was kind of – it makes you feel like, what are we doing?’
‘It's not always ethical, and that's what needs to change.’
Nyckoletta Martin, another former employee, told investigators Hoover had actually woken up hours earlier during a cardiac catheterization but was sedated and the case continued.
An organ transplant coordinator eventually shut down the case after Hoover's condition became impossible to ignore. Miller alleged higher-ups pressured staff to proceed, with one supervisor allegedly telling a coordinator to ‘find another doctor to do it’ or she would be fired.
A hospital doctor ultimately refused to remove him from life support and Hoover survived, though he still lives with neurological injuries, including difficulty balancing, talking, seeing and short-term memory loss.
His sister, Donna Rhorer, was told to take him home and make him comfortable – that he wouldn't live long. She has now been caring for him for years.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held hearings on the case, with Florida Republican Rep Neal Dunn calling it ‘a story more fitting for a horror movie than a congressional hearing.’
The decertification is part of a broader reform initiative Kennedy announced in July 2025, which also includes safeguards to prevent line-skipping in organ allocation, a strengthened misconduct reporting system and requirements that all organ procurement groups hire patient safety officers.
Before this action, the roughly 55 groups that have federal contracts to manage donations in the country had never faced closure.
