A New York Times op-ed advocates for taking organs from people who are in comas to improve transplant rates.
In a July 30, 2025, op-ed, the authors say that we should broaden the definition of death “to include irreversibly comatose patients on life support. Using this definition, these patients would be legally dead regardless of whether a machine restored the beating of their heart.”
Cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar posted the column on X, stating, “Death is not simply a biological fact, but it's also a social choice. To increase the number of donor organs, we should expand the definition of death. An op-ed I wrote with Snehal Patel and Deane Smith in the @nytimes today.”
Death is not simply a biological fact, but it's also a social choice. To increase the number of donor organs, we should expand the definition of death.
— Sandeep Jauhar (@sjauhar) July 31, 2025
An op-ed I wrote with Snehal Patel and Deane Smith in the @nytimes today.https://t.co/AZViJavmTm via @NYTOpinion
Social media pushed back.
Conservative broadcaster Erick Erickson said that The New York Times just exposed doctors from harvesting organs from living people, posting, “Not long after the New York Times ran a story exposing doctors trying to harvest organs from people still alive, they give space to some docs to claim we need a new definition of death to harvest organs faster...Ghoulish.”
Not long after the New York Times ran a story exposing doctors trying to harvest organs from people still alive, they give space to some docs to claim we need a new definition of death to harvest organs faster. https://t.co/BNYp2gIDMC Ghoulish.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 1, 2025
The op-ed sparked a firestorm on social media about whether people should be organ donors or not.
One viral post read: “People like you are why I’m removing my name from the donor registry.”
People like you are why I’m removing my name from the donor registry.
— Otto Von Tweetmarck (@OVTweetmarck) August 1, 2025
There is a high demand for organs, which are illegal to buy and sell, the op-ed said.
"In New York State, fewer than 500 cases are suitable for organ procurement and transplantation," the op-ed noted. "In 1968, a committee of doctors and ethicists at Harvard came up with a definition of brain death — the same basic definition most states use today. In its initial report the committee noted that 'there is great need for the tissues and organs of the hopelessly comatose in order to restore to health those who are still salvageable.'"
In July, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said that he will reform the organ transplant system.
“Our findings show that hospitals allowed the organ procurement process to begin when patients showed signs of life, and this is horrifying,” Kennedy said in a statement. “The organ procurement organizations that coordinate access to transplants will be held accountable. The entire system must be fixed to ensure that every potential donor’s life is treated with the sanctity it deserves.”
An investigation examined 351 cases where organ donation was authorized, but not completed. It found 103 cases (29.3%) that showed concerning features, including 73 patients with neurological signs incompatible with organ donation.
It's unclear whether 28 patients were dead when organ surgery had begun, Kennedy said.