"THIS PERSON IS NOT DEAD" - Erosion of Ethics in Modern Transplant Medicine | Dr. Joseph Varon

•Oct-13-2025
In 2024, more than 48,000 organ transplants were performed in the United States.
However, as Dr. Joseph Varon, president of the Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), writes in his recent article “The Moral Cost of Modern Transplant Medicine”: “That number should inspire hope—but instead, it invites scrutiny. A substantial portion of those organs were harvested under ethically ambiguous conditions. ... The line between patient and donor is blurring.”
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently vowed reform after finding some hospitals were overly hasty in proceeding with organ procurement from donors even “when patients showed signs of life.”
Varon is a critical care physician who has authored more than 980 peer-reviewed publications. He has been a critic of current organ transplant practices in America and has been warning about what he sees as a shift away from foundational medical ethicssuch as informed consent, dignity, and the sanctity of human life.
I sat down with Varon to find out what exactly is going on inside America’s modern transplant system: Is it true that some donors are not brain dead when the organ extraction process is initiated? Is the waitlist and distribution process truly based on need—or are there ways to jump the line? And is it the case that transplant teams are often called in so early—sometimes when the donor is still alive?
“Many people—instead of thinking ‘how are we going to try to save this person’—start calling the transplant team ahead of time. So the person is not even dead, and you’re already calling the transplant team,” Varon says.
How can we uphold the rights of donors while also meeting the urgent needs of patients whose lives depend on an organ transplant?

https://www.theepochtimes.com/epochtv/the-erosion-of-ethics-in-modern-transplant-medicine-dr-joseph-varon-5927721