Congressional inquiries have heard how potential donors have woken up during procedures to recover their organs and been told of staggering levels of Medicare fraud.

Secrets can now reveal that federal investigators are examining whether DCI Organ Services and its three OPOs — Tennessee Donor Services, Sierra Donor Services, which is based in Sacramento, California, and New Mexico Donor Services, which combined, cover more than 10 million people — breached the False Claims Act.

The act covers fraud, waste, and abuse involving federal government contracts and programs.

Staff have been ordered to preserve documents related to the use of private jets, reimbursement claims made to federal government programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, and details of discarded kidneys. Any potential evidence of overbilling or other types of fraud, along with reams of other documents, must not be destroyed.

An email sent in March by Thomas Robulack, the DCI Organ Services’ general counsel, and seen by Secrets, says the group has received a “civil investigative demand,” which is usually the first step in an investigation.

Campaigners welcomed the move.

“I’ve sounded the alarm to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for years and nothing has changed,” said Molly McCarthy, a three-time kidney transplant recipient. “I’m so thankful that law enforcement is finally now stepping in to stop the rot.”

The Department of Justice declined to respond to questions about the scope of the investigation. 

Some 55 OPOs manage the recovery of organs and tissues for transplant. They operate as regional monopolies.

Questions around the sector erupted into the headlines last month when Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was decertifying Network for Hope, the OPO serving Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

It had been under scrutiny for more than a year, after it emerged that a donor woke up after staff had started the procedure to harvest his organs. 

Kennedy described this group as a “bad apple,” but campaigners have detailed persistent safety issues, poor neurological evaluations, Medicare fraud — such as claiming reimbursement for personal private jet use — and exorbitant executive pay among other organizations.

A source told Secrets that a whistleblower complaint described how Tennessee Donor Services was struggling with low staffing levels.

On one occasion last year, nurses and the OPO’s organ recovery coordinator were unaware that the patient had an external pacemaker, according to the complaint filed with the Health Resources and Services Administration.

“They were confused when it was pointed out that this is donation by way of circulatory death, and if this patient’s heart repeatedly stops during the dying process, then they’re going to get a shock each time,” said the source.

In other words, medical staff had removed life-saving support, yet they had left in place a pacemaker that would not allow the patient to die.

A source familiar with the new investigation told Secrets that although the patient safety cases were frightening, that was not the main target of the investigation.

“DOJ is very interested in the money,” they said.

DCI Donor Services said it was cooperating with the Department of Justice.

“For over four decades, DCI Donor Services has been dedicated to saving and improving lives through organ donation and transplantation,” said a spokesman.

“We are honored to serve donor families, recipients, and communities, helping facilitate more than 5,900 life-saving organ and tissue donations each year,” the spokesman added. “We take our obligations of regulatory compliance, ethical conduct, and patient safety seriously and have cooperated with inquiries by the Department of Justice.”

The owner of DCI Donor Services is Donor Clinic Inc. It owns five private planes, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

The email seen by Secrets suggests that investigators want more information about their use.

HARVESTED ALIVE: TRUMP MUST STEP IN BEFORE DOCTORS FARM HUMANS FOR SPARE PARTS

“All documents and communications related to the use of any D.C.I. affiliate, rather than a third party, for plane travel or other costs or expenses for which reimbursement was sought from a federal healthcare program, including but not limited to any comparisons to market prices,” says the notice to staff setting out what information must be preserved.

It also demands details of policies around kidney collection.

“All documents and communications related to discarding kidneys or discarded kidneys that were collected or procured,” it says.

And it asks for billing records: “All documents and communications related to upcharging, overcharging, double-charging, inflating, duplicative billing or other otherwise increasing any bills, invoices, cost reports, or claims for payment or reimbursement of any kind, whether intentional or accidental, including any corrective actions or corrective action plans.”

You are reading Washington Secrets, a guide to power and politics in D.C. and beyond. It is written by Rob Crilly, who you can reach at [email protected] with your comments, story tips, and suggestions.

The gold telephone game

The White House press corps loves a shiny object almost as much as the next man, even when the next man is gilding the Oval Office and adding gold leaf to anything that doesn’t move for a minute.

So you can imagine their delight on spotting Donald Trump‘s two telephones on Wednesday. There they were on the Resolute Desk, tricked out with golden edging, the presidential seal, his name (something that former President Joe Biden could probably have used), a line drawing of the White House North Portico, plus the numbers 45 and 47 for good measure.

Peter Doocy, of Fox News, asked Trump whether he had a new phone. “Yeah,” came the response. “You know who gave this to me? A phone company.” Cisco, in case you were wondering.

Social media instantly lit up, just like the little faces of the reporters, with breathless posts and pictures of their phones. For sycophants, they were a handsome addition to the decor — to critics, they were another example of a president living in a gilded cage while Americans struggled with the cost of living.

What a shame, then, that the phones have been there at least a month. A Secrets reader with sharper eyes than the press pack messages to say they were captured by a photographer on Aug. 3, during an executive order signing ceremony setting up the military spouse commission.

And while we are on the subject…

Did you notice the subtle rebrand of the X account once used by Karoline Leavitt? Its handle remains @PressSec. But when it posted yesterday, for the first time in almost a week, it had been restyled as “The White House Press Office.”

This all suggests that there is little likelihood of anyone stepping into Leavitt’s shoes any time soon. In the meantime, Vice President JD Vance is up at the lectern in the briefing room today at 1 p.m.

Lunchtime reading

Academia is in trouble and this English professor understands why: Who doesn’t love a campus novel? “It’s a place where a traditional holiday college celebration is now an occasion for political protest. Kids freely police one another inside and out of the classroom with social media their constant, ready weapon of choice.” Delicious.

How the data center backlash is growing in U.S. statehouses: State lawmakers have already introduced at least 375 data center bills this year, according to this useful analysis.

The Devilish Legacy of Roy Cohn: James Kirchick reviews the new biography. It is paywalled but well worth the time. Have it as your bonus recommendation today.