NJ family's fight over organ donation raises questions | Investigation

SWEDESBORO, N.J. (WPVI) -- A New Jersey family says it spent two days fighting to prevent the harvesting of a loved one's organs after his death, raising questions about how organ donor registrations are updated and maintained.

Keith Lott, of Swedesboro, died in May after suffering a brain aneurysm.

According to his family, Lott had previously been an organ donor but removed himself from New Jersey's donor registry after converting to Islam, believing he had withdrawn his consent.

"They ran tests for 72 hours and then came to the conclusion on Tuesday, May 19, that he was brain dead," said his brother, Alexander Lott.

The Lott family said representatives from the New Jersey Sharing Network, a nonprofit involved in organ donation coordination, approached them shortly after Lott was declared brain dead and informed them that his organs would be harvested.

"I apologized to the Sharing Network, to those families that are in need. But unfortunately, this was one body that they couldn't get," Alexander Lott said.

The family said a dispute followed, during which the NJ Sharing Network threatened legal action.

According to the family, the organization stated that although Keith Lott had changed his donor designation with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission in 2025, he also needed to remove himself from a national registry.

State Sen. Paul Moriarty disputed that claim, saying the NJ Sharing Network did not have the most current donor information.

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission told the Investigative Team that donor information is updated in real time and available.

"It's just unconscionable. It's sloppy. It's not professional, and I don't think people know this," Moriarty said.

Moriarty's criticism was echoed by Greg Segal, founder of Organize, a nonprofit that advocates for improvements in the organ donation system.

"There's a systematic problem. This is a predatory problem," Segal said.

Segal called organ donation a big business with roughly only 50 or so Organ Procurement Organizations across the country.

OPOs are federally designated nonprofits that coordinate organ donation between hospitals, donors and transplant centers.

The NJ Sharing Network and Gift of Life operate in our area. Gift of Life released a statement saying, in part, that Cooper University Hospital is not part of its network.

The Lotts said Cooper was nothing but helpful and realized the hospitals hands were tied.

Segal said enrollment in organ donation lacks transparency and argued that people are not fully informed about the scope of donation.

"It also doesn't tell you you're donating not just your organs, but your skin, your tissues, your bones, your cornea. They don't tell you that can be sold internationally to for-profit companies for cosmetic testing," Segal said.

Another New Jersey family also filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the NJ Sharing Network, alleging the nonprofit pressured them to donate tissue and bone and misled them about the consequences.

According to the lawsuit, their relative was unrecognizable during an open-casket viewing because of tissue recovery procedures.

The Investigative Team has also learned that the NJ Sharing Network is the subject of a congressional investigation by the House Ways and Means Committee involving allegations of fraud, undue pressure on families and other potential legal violations.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office also said it is investigating the allegations.

The Lott family said that after days of disputes at Cooper Hospital, Keith Lott's niece, Blake Lott, sought assistance from Moriarty.

The family said that after the senator intervened, the NJ Sharing Network withdrew its efforts to recover Lott's organs.

"They lacked compassion, morality, and ethics," Blake Lott said.

Keith Lott ultimately received a burial in accordance with his family's wishes, without organ recovery, according to the family.

"We need to better inform the public about what this means, and we need to hold these organ procurement organizations more accountable," Moriarty said.

Since the incident, Moriarty has introduced legislation that would require organ procurement organizations to use the most current state and national donor registries. He is also working on legislation that would require additional information about organ donation during registration and provide people with more options regarding what parts of their bodies may be donated.

The NJ Sharing Network did not respond to multiple requests for comment, according to the report.

Read the full statement from Gift of Life:

"We cannot comment on the case featured in the upcoming 6abc news story as it took place in a hospital that is not part of Gift of Life's network. We can, however, clarify our policy of honoring donor designation decisions.

Gift of Life Donor Program recognizes and honors an individual's decision to register as an organ and tissue donor to save and heal lives. We work 24/7 in designated areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, where more than 8 million people have made that generous decision via their state driver's license registry.

In all three states, Gift of Life recognizes an individual's most recent transaction at the DMV as their current decision regarding donor designation. We have communicated this to state government, motor vehicle officials, other OPOs (organ procurement agencies) in our states, our hospital partners and the general public. If a person has not registered as a donor, Gift of Life will reach out to the appropriate family member, in accordance with each state's anatomical gift law, to offer them the opportunity for donation.

Our highly trained clinical staff support each family with compassion, sensitivity, and respect. They work side by side with the hospital's ICU nurses and physicians to ensure that the rare opportunity to create a legacy of saving and healing lives through donation is preserved for and offered to families."

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