WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter to Life Alliance Organ Recovery Center, a Miami-based Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert (AZ-01) are demanding documents related to reports that the organization knowingly and deliberately engaged in a Medicare fraud scheme designed to enrich its board members and senior leadership. Additionally, media reports suggest that clinicians at the organization sedated and withdrew life support from a patient, who was crying and biting on his breathing tube, and then waited for death in order to remove the patient’s organs.
The letter follows a public call for information as part of the Committee’s examination into whether these tax-exempt organizations are abiding by the existing laws and regulations that govern them. Chairmen Smith and Schweikert have demanded three additional OPOs turn over documents as part of the Committee’s examination after it received allegations of potential Medicare fraud and abuse at these organizations.
In the letter, Chairmn Smith and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Schweikert wrote, “the New York Times recently published an article on patient safety lapses at organ procurement organizations (‘OPO’) which mentioned a case involving your organization where clinicians sedated a patient, withdrew life support, and waited for death before removing the organs of a patient who was crying and biting on his breathing tube which one Life Alliance employee interpreted as the patient not wanting to die. Patient safety lapses have long been a recurring issue for your organization and others like it, reflecting a history of ongoing concerns rather than isolated incidents. In 2015, Life Alliance was declared a ‘Member Not in Good Standing,’ occurring from a serious violation of policies or a serious lapse in patient safety or quality of care.”
The letter continues, “Given the nature of Life Alliance’s status as a tax-exempt organization that receives reimbursements through Medicare, the Committee is seeking to better understand the extent to which your organization has continued to engage in Medicare fraud. Additionally, the Committee wants to ensure that your organization is not using Life Alliance’s financial resources outside of the organization’s charitable purpose or to enrich board members or senior leadership. Oversight is not only warranted but necessary to uphold the public’s trust in the organ transplant system and ensure the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars in the delivery of care.”
You can read the letter to Live Alliance Organ Recovery Center here.