HHS seeks to cut ties with Florida organ transplant group in reform effort

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said it is moving to shut down a major organ procurement organization amid actions to reform the nation’s organ transplant system.

The HHS said an investigation uncovered “years of unsafe practices, poor training, chronic underperformance, understaffing, and paperwork errors.”

If completed, the move would mark the first time the federal government has decertified an organ procurement organization.

“We are acting because of years of documented Patient Safety Data failures and repeated violations of federal requirements, and we intend this decision to serve as a clear warning,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.

The agency is moving to close Life Alliance Organ Recovery Agency, a division of the University of Miami's health system.