To the Editor:<\/p>\n
Re \u201cOrgan Donation Needs to Be Trustworthy<\/a>,\u201d by Greg Segal (Opinion guest essay, Sept. 22):<\/p>\n I have spent years working alongside the professionals who make organ donation possible. And that experience is difficult to reconcile with the sweeping picture painted by Mr. Segal in his essay.<\/p>\n Here is what I know about the organ donation system: Patient safety is foundational, donation decisions are governed by strict ethical and clinical safeguards, and the teams who coordinate donation are deeply committed to upholding the trust placed in them by patients, donor families and the public.<\/p>\n While any serious concerns should be thoroughly investigated, isolated allegations should not define an entire national system or the thousands of professionals working every day to save lives. The truth is that organ procurement organizations are held to high standards of safety and accountability by both federal and state regulators and undergo rigorous audits and evaluations.<\/p>\n Those in our field continue to learn and improve this system every day. New national safeguards approved by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network strengthen patient protections, including formal procedures to pause donation if concerns arise. The organ procurement organizations themselves support transparent oversight, meaningful accountability and continuous improvement across the donation and transplant system.<\/p>\n Organ donation depends on public trust. Protecting that trust depends on accurate portrayals of the professionals, donor families and donor heroes whose extraordinary generosity gives thousands of Americans a second chance at life each year.<\/p>\n Allison Erickson To the Editor:<\/p>\n
Waltham, Mass.
The writer is the president of the Association of Organ Procurement Organizations.<\/p>\n