Transplant service files suit against United Network for Organ Sharing over access to data
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Key takeaways:
- Buckeye Transplant Services wants to continue using its proprietary technology to evaluate donated organs.
- The United Network for Organ Sharing is accusing Buckeye of improperly accessing donor information.
Buckeye Transplant Services has filed a lawsuit against the United Network for Organ Sharing to allow continued use of Buckeye’s proprietary technology to assess organ donor data.
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) manages the U.S. organ allocation system through the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN).
“Buckeye was forced to bring this lawsuit — and pursue emergency injunctive relief — because UNOS has threatened to terminate Buckeye’s access to the OPTN ... unless Buckeye stops performing essential services and deletes years of transplant centers’ data, essentially handicapping Buckeye’s ability to serve its transplant center clients,” the company said in the lawsuit.
UNOS said in a statement to Healio.com that it had given Buckeye until June 21 to discontinue use of the company’s data mining tools – the Rapid Organ Assessment Tool and the Operational Assessment Tool – used by Buckeye to determine if organs are suitable for transplantation. It set July 5 as the compliance date, according to the statement.
UNOS said Buckeye’s data mining tools are used “to accumulate OPTN data, all without agreement or oversight by the OPTN or [Health Resources Services Administration] HRSA.
“We are concerned these automated tools provide Buckeye with unauthorized access to OPTN data,” UNOS said. “The OPTN data is highly sensitive on extremely vulnerable patient and donor populations. Patients, donors and their families rely on us to keep donor and patient data maintained in the OPTN computer system safe, secure and private,” UNOS said.
Buckeye said in the lawsuit that it has invested more than $1.4 million in developing the tools, which “are utilized by Buckeye’s personnel in the provision of its transplant coordination services to transplant centers ... these tools are critical to the organ coordination process and the elimination of Buckeye’s technology would have both immediate and long-term implications for the ability of the organ donation network to successfully transplant deceased donor organs.”
In response to the lawsuit, UNOS agreed to move the July 5 deadline set for compliance to July 19 to allow for continued discussions, according to its statement.
References:
Buckeye Transplant Services vs. United Network for Organ Sharing, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Case 3:23-cv-00427-REP Document 1. Filed July 3, 2023.
OPTN statement concerning Buckeye Transplant Services. https://unos.org/wp-content/uploads/Statement-concerning-Buckeye-Transplant-Services-070723.pdf.
Important update for Buckeye customers. https://www.buckeyetransplant.com. Published July 5, 2023. Accessed July 6, 2023.
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