On March 4, Bloomberg Government published a story based on a leaked letter from Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden to the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA). The letter alleges that UNOS “deleted or modified OPTN member records” related to “member activity and patient safety.”
UNOS is setting the record straight
To be clear, UNOS did not delete any OPTN records. No files or data required by our contract with HRSA to serve the OPTN are missing, and none have been modified.
UNOS took the extraordinary measure earlier this year of providing HRSA direct access to internal operational support materials that HRSA requested, despite UNOS having no contractual obligation to provide them to HRSA. UNOS took this unusual step to demonstrate its commitment to being a good partner to HRSA.
It is deeply troubling that members of HRSA’s staff would provide Congress with incomplete and inaccurate information about our work to support OPTN modernization, which has the effect of discrediting UNOS. Meanwhile, UNOS has gone above and beyond its contractual obligations to support HRSA because we are a mission-driven organization that has advocated for patients for more than four decades. UNOS has been transparent and collaborative in all of its dealings with HRSA.
UNOS is committed to working constructively with HRSA to benefit the OPTN and to advocate for reforms that will improve our nation’s donation and transplant system.
