American patient story causing organ donations to plummet in France
The story of a brain dead man waking up on the operating table is causing refusal rates to soar
There is ‘no risk’ of the same thing happening on an operating table in France, an expert has said
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A story about an American organ donor who woke up on the operating table just as his heart was about to be removed has resurfaced online in France, and is causing organ donation refusals to rise.
The incident dates to 2021, but was recently reported by NPR in the US, and then picked up by news outlets in France.
A 36-year-old patient in Kentucky, US, Thomas T. J. Hoover, suffered a drug overdose and was declared brain dead. As a registered organ donor, his apparently-dead body was prepared for organ donation. He then woke up on the operating table, just as his heart was about to be taken.
Read also: Organ donation in France: Why it is good to talk about it
‘Very damaging’ story
Now, the agency in France that manages organ donations, l’Agence de la biomédecine, has said it is concerned about an increase in organ donation registration refusals in France in recent days.
“The fact that this information is being circulated is very damaging and casts doubt on organ donation and transplantation in France,” said the agency to AFP. “We have noted a clear increase in the number of entries on the national register of refusals.”
It said that refusal rates are currently 10 times’ higher than normal.
France has an ‘opt-out’ system for organ donation, meaning every adult is presumed to be a donor unless they have specifically registered not to be, at registrenationaldesrefus.fr.
In practice, however, doctors consult with relatives of the potential donor before performing the procedure, and are often met with a refusal.
Read also: How to be an organ donor in France
Read also: Is it possible to opt out of organ donation in France?
‘No risk’
Régis Bronchard, deputy director of procurement at the agency, and an anaesthetist himself, said that there is “no risk” of a similar phenomenon happening in France. He told Europe 1: “There is a clinical examination by two doctors who prove [that the patient is in] a deep coma.
“The absence of breathing is checked. The doctors do biological tests to confirm this.”
He also explained that another precaution exists in France to verify death..
“This is either two electroencephalograms (EEG, which measures electrical brain activity), which must be taken at least four hours apart; or a brain scan, which will show that there is no longer any blood circulation,” he said.
In 2023, more than 5,600 patients received an organ transplant in France.
