Case of Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II is under investigation by state and federal government officials

A man who had gone into cardiac arrest and been declared brain dead woke up as surgeons in his home state of Kentucky were in the middle of harvesting his organs for donation, his family has told media outlets.

As reported Thursday by both National Public Radio and the Kentucky news station WKYT, the case of Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II is under investigation by state and federal government officials. Officials within the US’s organ-procurement system insist there are safeguards in place to prevent such episodes, though his family told the outlets their experience highlights a need for at least some reform.

WKYT reported that Rhorer only learned the full details of her brother’s surgery at the hands of Baptist and the Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates (Koda) in January. That’s when a former employee of Koda contacted her before sending a letter to a congressional committee that in September held a hearing scrutinizing organ-procurement organizations, NPR reported.

The letter’s author said she saw Hoover begin “thrashing” around on the operating table as well as start “crying visibly”, according to NPR.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 months ago

    “…cases like Hoovers are one-offs…”

    Ummm, CASES LIKE THIS??? THERE’S MORE???

    The letter’s author said she saw Hoover begin “thrashing” around on the operating table as well as start “crying visibly”, according to NPR.

    Fucking horror show.

    • @RestrictedAccount
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      242 months ago

      There was a case Texas a few years back where the Dad of the kid took his gun to the hospital because they were going to pull the plug and harvest his organs. He thought that his kid wasn’t brain dead.

      They were wondering what they would do with this nut job when the kid started moving.

      He wasn’t brain dead and the Dad was right.

      https://www.medicaldaily.com/father-held-hospital-prevent-taking-son-life-support-and-ended-saving-his-life-366750

      • @[email protected]
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        2 months ago

        Wow, what a story 😬 I wonder how many of these there are? Of course they want to keep them out of the public, but damn. Even one is too much.

    • peopleproblems
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      112 months ago

      Without looking at the actual numbers, the likelihood of this is probably far less than waking up from any surgery in general.

      Which is still less likely than actually dying during elective surgery.