https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/31/brown-university-doctor-deportation-case-00631772

Judge tosses lawsuit from Brown University physician halted at Boston airport

Kidney specialist Rasha Alawieh was deported in March after immigration officials found Hezbollah-related photos on her phone.
...

https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/10/21/future-of-richmond-based-organ-transplant-contractor-unclear-as-deadline-nears/

Future of Richmond-based organ transplant contractor unclear as deadline nears

The Richmond-based United Network for Organ Sharing has operated the country's organ transplant network for almost 40 years. But it is unclear what role UNOS will have in the transplantation of kidneys, livers and other organs after Dec. 29.
The nonprofit's contract ends that day, and the federal government has given UNOS no information about how it plans to manage the network afterward, said Paige Adrians, a spokesperson for UNOS.
The government has said it will break up UNOS' contract into pieces and divvy up its work among multiple contractors. But the health department has not issued task orders or begun the process of transitioning the work. And it is unclear if any progress is being made during the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1.
UNOS has already furloughed some staff after the health department instructed the contractor to cease some of its operations. Now the nonprofit and its roughly 360-person staff have an uncertain future.

Congress passed the National Organ Transplant Act in 1984 and awarded the first contract to operate the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to UNOS in 1986. The nonprofit won every contract thereafter until last year.
Headquartered on North Fourth Street downtown, UNOS operates a network that includes about 250 transplant centers and 55 regional organ procurement organizations. There are more than 100,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a new organ, and this year, about 20 Virginia residents have died each month waiting for an organ, according to UNOS data.
Over the years, critics have said the network lacked sufficient logistics, oversight and modern technology. In the summer, a federal investigation found numerous safety problems in organ transplantation.
UNOS' CEO, Maureen McBride, told a congressional committee in July that there is no greater priority for UNOS than "a safe, effective and trustworthy organ donation and transplant system."
In 2023, President Joe Biden signed a bill splitting UNOS' contract into pieces. The federal health department chose 14 finalists to compete for work within the network, with UNOS among them. The health department extended UNOS' contract through Dec. 29, 2025, but no more extensions are available. The government will have to either negotiate a new contract with UNOS or select new contractors.
If the government wants new contractors, it will have to issue task orders for companies to bid on different facets of work and then pick the winners. So far, the government has chosen two contractors to do small portions of UNOS' work. Last year, a contractor called the American Institutes for Research, based in Arlington County, won a task order to support the transplant network's board of directors. Last month, the Fairfax County-based Guidehouse Digital won a contract to manage a patient services call line. But the health department has not yet directed UNOS to transition either of those jobs to the new vendors.
"The government still needs to issue task orders for the vast majority" of organ transplant work, Adrians said. It is unclear how and when the health department would make that transition.
The work to determine the network's future might have stopped during the shutdown. The Health Resources and Services Administration, the federal agency that oversees UNOS, said it is furloughing just under half its employees, and the staffers who deal directly with UNOS have stopped working, Adrians said. A spokesperson for the health department did not respond to a request for comment.

UNOS has spent months asking the health department to discuss its plans for the system, Adrians said, but it has not gotten an answer.
...

https://themarkup.org/on-borrowed-time/2025/10/14/is-the-patient-black-check-this-box-for-yes?mc_cid=7c1a488ffc&mc_eid=240432cb6c

On Borrowed Time
Is the patient Black? Check this box for yes
For years a race-based medical calculation delayed Black patients access to life-saving kidney transplants
By Anissa Durham


This article is part of "On Borrowed Time," a series by Anissa Durham that examines the people, policies, and systems that hurt or help Black patients in need of an organ transplant.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Craig Merritt asked himself the same two-word question:
Why me?
...

https://themarkup.org/on-borrowed-time/2025/10/14/its-hard-to-find-resources-while-on-the-transplant-list-these-sites-want-to-change-that

It's hard to find resources while on the transplant list. These sites want to change that
Here are seven resources to help if you need an organ transplant
By Anissa Durham
...

https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/shutdown-forces-key-organ-transplant-nonprofit-to-furlough-staff

Shutdown Forces Organ Transplant Nonprofit to Furlough Staff
Erin Durkin
John Hewitt Jones

A nonprofit crucial to operating the US organ transplant system has furloughed more than 90 employees because of the federal shutdown as lawmakers remain at an impasse over a government spending deal.
The United Network for Organ Sharing in an emailed statement to Bloomberg Government said it was unable to continue funding the salaries of certain employees and that the Trump administration had indicated it won't cover these costs. The group also said the government owed several months' worth of reimbursement, totaling more than $10 million.
The days of the department "rubber stamping UNOS's invoices" are done, Andrew Nixon, Health ...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03248-5

First human transplant of kidney modified to have 'universal' blood type
Recipient diagnosed with brain death received a type-O organ, which is compatible with all blood types.

• By Rachel Fieldhouse

Scientists have converted the blood type of a donor kidney and transplanted the organ into a person. The procedure — the first of its kind — could improve access to donor organs, specialists say, because the blood type of the donor would no longer matter.
Currently, organs from deceased donors can be transplanted into people only if they have a compatible blood type. This is because the recipient's immune system can produce antibodies to attack and destroy the donated organ if the donor and recipient have different antigens, which come in two types: A and B. Organs that are blood type O do not have A or B antigens, so anyone can receive them.
Researchers from Canada and China used an enzyme to remove type-A antigens from a donor kidney1. The enzyme converts type-A blood into type-O, says study author Stephen Withers, a chemist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The type-O kidney was then transplanted into a 68-year-old brain-dead man in Chongqing, China. The organ remained healthy for two days before showing signs of rejection. It produced urine for six days. The results are published in Nature Biomedical Engineering today.
...

https://livingdonorsonline.org/donor-experiences/donation-anniversaries/  Add your anniversary here!

Best wishes to all remembering a momentous time in life! Here's hoping all's well with you and yours, and all recipients! We wonder about Andrew and Carol so many years later. Rebecca, our hearts go out to you again and again. Take good care, all!

Forty-ninth anniversary:
Andrew Janollari donated a kidney to his sister, Carol, on October 12th, 1976

Thirty-sixth anniversary:
Tyrone Hyslop donated part of his liver to his sister on October 18th, 1989

Thirty-fifth anniversary:
Dannielle Hayes donated a kidney to her mother on October 9th, 1990

Twenty-ninth anniversary:
Lisa Moore donated a kidney to her sister on October 17th, 1996
Leslie Moore Boyd donated a kidney to her father, Charles, on October 31st, 1996. He lived three more years, during which he welcomed his last grandchild into this world.

Twenty-seventh anniversary:
Robert S. Burroughs donated a kidney to his sister on October 10th, 1998
Charlotte Singletary donated a kidney to her sister, Cindy Murdock, on October 21st, 1998

Twenty-sixth anniversary:
Jack Hallman donated a kidney to Donna Leubke's recipient, her sister, his friend, on October 19th, 1999

Twenty-fourth anniversary:
Barb donated a kidney to her brother on October 1st, 2001. He was re-transplanted 6 days later.
Ellen Souviney donated a kidney to a friend on October 2nd, 2001
Michelle Nichols donated a kidney to a stranger on October 29th, 2001
Jennifer Beckwith donated a kidney to her sister on October 30th, 2001

Twwenty-third anniversary:
Mary DeLeeuw donated a kidney to a friend on October 8th, 2002
Sylvia Ridley donated a kidney to her mother, Lucy, on October 23rd, 2002
Janice Uible donated a kidney to her husband on October 29th, 2002

Twenty-second anniversary:
Tina Alvarez donated a kidney to her sister on October 13th, 2003
Stephanie Powell donated a kidney to a stranger on October 21st, 2003
Marilyn Zeller-Walker donated a kidney to her daughter on October 28th, 2003

Twenty-first anniversary:
Samuel R. Smitty II donated a kidney to an unrelated person on October 20th, 2004
Gladys Sanders donated a kidney to her daughter on October 29th, 2004

Twentieth anniversary:
Bruce Doty donated a kidney to his daughter, Tracey, on October 12th, 2005, the day before her 23rd birthday. 
Angela Dale donated a kidney to her friend, Charles Coats, on October 19th, 2005
Lynda Gammons donated a kidney to her husband, Ian, on October 20th, 2005
Ruth Woodhall donated a kidney to her cousin, Alan, on October 27th, 2005

Nineteenth anniversary:
Michael Joseph donated a kidney to a stranger found on LDO in October, 2006
Patty-Lynn Gouthro donated a kidney to her sister on October 4th, 2006
Bryan Compton donated a kidney to his wife, Debbie, on October 10th, 2006
Vince C. donated a kidney to his wife on October 17th, 2006
Amanda Mathenia donated a kidney to her father, Terry, on October 25th, 2006

Eighteenth anniversary:
Lauren Chavis donated a kidney to Christina Hill on October 2nd, 2007
Tina Schwaderer donated a kidney to David Martin on October 2nd, 2007
Kim Jackson donated her left kidney to her mother on October 5th, 2007
Ann Davis donated a kidney to her husband on October 22nd, 2007
Khalifa Al Shaibani donated a kidney to his brother, Hamad, on October 26th, 2007
Diane Curtiss donated a kidney to her husband on October 30th, 2007

Seventeenth anniversary:
Nathan Pearl donated a kidney to his sister on October 7th, 2008
Edwin E. Rodriguez, Sr., donated a kidney to his son, Edwin E. Rodriguez, Jr., on October 9th, 2008
Anne-Marie Meyer donated her right kidney to her friend Susie on October 14th, 2008
Lorrie Whitfield donated a kidney to her husband on October 15th, 2008
Carole Stueben donated a kidney to her father on October 16th, 2008
Oliver Foggin donated a kidney to a friend on October 17th, 2008
Kathy Harris donated a kidney to her husband on October 23rd, 2008
Sarah McDaniel donated a kidney to a stranger in a list exchange on October 28th, 2008 (her mother received a deceased-donor kidney four weeks later)

Sixteenth anniversary:
Linda donated a kidney to her husband on October 8th, 2009
Faith McKinney donated a kidney to her cousin's husband, Steve Carter, on October 20th, 2009
Carmen Manning donated a kidney to her father on October 23rd, 2009
Phil Hoover gave his left kidney to one of his college professors from more than 20 years ago on October 28th, 2009

Fifteenth anniversary:
Rebecca Chambers Farwell donated a kidney to her husband, Keith, on October 19th, 2010.  He died a short time later from a preventable complication.
Scott Jenkins donated a kidney to a stranger in need on October 22nd, 2010

Fourteenth anniversary:
Shelby Morris donated a kidney to a friend on October 6th, 2011
Tricia Carter donated a kidney to her sister, Elaine, on October 16th, 2011
Brenda Walsh donated a kidney to her brother, Robert Rhinas, on October 17th, 2011
Tom Carr made a non-directed kidney donation on October 21st, 2011
Linda donated a kidney to her best friend from high school on October 28th, 2011
Sonya Martinez donated a kidney to her husband Jaime, on October 28th, 2011

Thirteenth anniversary:
Linda Bernard donated a kidney on October 1st, 2012
Shana Roche donated part of her liver to her father, Michael Cox, on October 4th, 2012
Scott W. Barnes donated a kidney to his uncle, Billy Gene Crum, on October 18th, 2012

Twelfth anniversary:
Christa Bolette Hassen donated part of her liver to four week old Maddox Raptosh on October 16th, 2013
Bruce Stanfill donated a kidney to his neighbor, Ben Bott, on October 23rd, 2013
Julie Chahal donated a kidney to her father, Ken, on October 23rd, 2013
June Krueger donated a kidney to her long time friend, Cindy Dischinger, on October 30th, 2013

Eleventh anniversary:
Jon Aplin donated part of his liver to his friend, Jaci Rego, on October 2nd, 2014
Angel McCliggott donated a kidney on October 31st, 2014

Tenth anniversary:
Lisa Mendpara donated a kidney to her husband, Ris***, on October 14th, 2015

Ninth anniversary:
Donna Aitken donated a kidney to her sister, Karen, on October 25th, 2016

Sixth anniversary:
Tom Davies made a non-directed kidney donation on October 16th 2019
April Wilson donated a kidney to her mother, Marylou Walker, on October 21st, 2019
Erin Kirchner donated a kidney anonymously, reportedly to a 14 year old girl in Minnesota, on October 22nd, 2019

Fourth anniversary:
Anita I. Costello donated a kidney to her husband, Zavier D. Mauldin, on October 25th, 2021

Third anniversary:
Rose Osborn donated a kidney to her cousin, Angel Cesta, on October 6th, 2022

https://washingtonstand.com/article/shuttering-the-red-market-the-dark-truth-behind-organ-sales

COMMENTARY
Shuttering the Red Market: The Dark Truth Behind Organ Sales

Jon Spiers
September 29, 2025

...

"Where do you want to start? With the unethical part, the illegal part, or the better idea part," I asked.

...

Hi, Michael!

  While I know the videos themselves are saved somewhere, for some period of time, I don't think they're routinely posted publicly after the meeting is adjourned. I believe they are used to help the staff liaisons construct the summaries available on each committee's page, way at the bottom, below the names of all the committee members. For example, a summary of the most recent meeting of the board of directors isn't posted to https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/about/board-of-directors/ yet, but the August 21st meeting is: https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/media/lxlc5wet/optn-bodmtg-summary-082125-508.pdf . Contact info for the liaison for each committee is on the committee's page, and any public requests for committee related information should go to them. I'm not sure the videos are retained for any length of time, and I don't know what the staff targets are for getting summaries posted to the website. There's a lot in flux at the moment.

Are the videos recorded and accessible?