Senate Finance Committee Warned DHS of Poor Security of Organ Transplant Sharing Network

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Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee grew so alarmed during a closed-door briefing earlier this year about the security of the system for getting donated kidneys, livers, and hearts to desperately ill patients that they warned officials at the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies they had “no confidence” in the security of the transplant network.

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) holds the monopoly on getting organs to transplant victims. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) oversees UNOS, but that agency has little authority to regulate transplant activity, and UNOS has rejected any attempts to regulate the system. The Finance Committee has scheduled a hearing on the system for Wednesday. (Joseph Menn and Lenny Bernstein / Washington Post)