Nonprofit Group That Oversees Organ Donations Criticized

The nonprofit group that monitors organ donations in the United States consistently fails to detect and amend serious problems at transplant centers, the Los Angeles Times reports.

An investigation by the newspaper found that the United Network for Organ Sharing is slow to punish derelict hospitals and clinics and often overlooks obvious signs of failure.

Since 1986, the federal government has relied on the network to run the nation’s organ-donation system at all levels, from harvesting organs to distributing them.

Officials at the network have said they were “embarrassed” by reports about lapses and outright deception at transplant centers and vowed to make improvements.