Alert staff at a Kentucky hospital sounded the alarm when they noticed doctors were about to euthanize a patient who had been declared brain dead but appeared to have woken up during organ harvesting, a new report states. shocking.
Anthony ‘TJ’ Hoover, 36, was pronounced dead at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital after suffering an overdose in October 2021.
But hospital staff soon realized he had reflexes and his eyes were open the entire time as he was carried on a stretcher to the operating room during his honor walk, a tradition to show respect to organ donors.
Additionally, Hoover had “purposeful movements in pain” and was “turning around” during a cardiac catheterization to prepare his organs for removal, according to medical records reviewed by cnn.
Staff were reportedly “extremely uncomfortable with the amount of reflection”, with some complaining that “this was euthanasia”.
Anthony ‘TJ’ Hoover, 36, was pronounced dead at Baptist Health Richmond Hospital after suffering an overdose
However, instead of stopping the operation, the cardiologist gave Hoover a paralytic and further sedated him with midazolam and fentanyl, according to CNN.
The same cardiologist who performed the procedure had reportedly said, “I’m not a neurologist, but if I would certainly call it intentional movement, they shouldn’t have said that the patient wasn’t going to have significant recovery with these reflexes.”
Hoover, who struggled with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, was pronounced dead in October 2021 after an overdose.
He overdosed on what would have been his mother’s birthday, months after her death.
His sister Donna Rhorer told CNN she felt doctors did everything they could before declaring him brain dead and asking his family to change his status to Do Not Resuscitate.
Hoover was “declared a brain dead patient in maintenance for organ harvesting” on October 29, four days after his overdose.
Heartbreaking images show Hoover being taken into surgery in a hospital bed as his heartbroken relatives say goodbye.
Rhorer says her brother has had problems with memory, walking and talking ever since, and she had to become his legal guardian.
Hoover’s sister, Donna Rhorer, told Fox56 they were told her loved one had “no reflexes, no responses, no brain waves, no brain activity” before deciding to take him off life support.
Hospital staff even held an honor walk for Hoover, a tradition in which nurses and other employees line up to show respect to organ donors as they are wheeled into surgery.
Heartbreaking images show Hoover being pushed into a hospital bed as his heartbroken relatives say goodbye before what they believed would be a final procedure.
You can hear someone in the background reassuringly saying: “sometimes they respond, with some reflexes.”
But once on the operating table, Hoover began writhing, crying and trying to pull out his teeth as surgeons prepared to remove parts of his body, according to Nyckoletta Martin, a former employee of Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates.
Then, as surgeons prepared to remove his organs, Hoover began “moving around” and “was visibly crying,” according to Natasha Miller, another former employee.
Miller said that when his colleague called KODA, which had arranged the transplant, the supervisor told them they were “going to do this case” anyway and that the hospital needed to “find another doctor.”
Donna Rhorer, his sister, has become his legal guardian.
Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, KODA, has said it reviewed the case and “remains confident that accepted practices and approved protocols were followed.” Hoover is in the photo this year.
In the end, the organ harvesting was canceled and several employees resigned.
Rhorer says her brother has had problems with memory, walking and talking ever since, and she had to become his legal guardian.
“I feel angry,” she said.
‘I feel betrayed by the fact that people told us they were brain dead and then woke up.
“They’re trying to play God,” he said. “They’re almost, you know, picking and choosing: They’re going to take this person to save these people.”
“And you lose a little faith in humanity.”
The hospital insists that ‘the safety of our patients is always our top priority’
Kentucky Organ Donor Affiliates, KODA, has said it reviewed the case and “remains confident that accepted practices and approved protocols were followed.”
KODA also told CNN that the case has been “inaccurately represented.”
Meanwhile, Baptist Health Richmond has said that “the safety of our patients is always our top priority.” We work closely with our patients and their families to ensure that our patients’ wishes regarding organ donation are met.’
Kentucky’s attorney general has opened an investigation into the case and the Health Resources and Services Administration is also investigating it, as is a bipartisan congressional investigation and oversight subcommittee.