In a case that raises urgent ethical, medical, and systemic questions, a woman in New Mexico, US narrowly escaped having her organs harvested while she was still ALIVE. Her case exposes disturbing gaps in the US organ donation system and has sparked a nationwide debate about the protocols followed when a patient is declared beyond recovery.

Danella Gallegos, 38, was homeless when she suffered a still-unnamed medical crisis in 2022. She fell into a coma and was admitted to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There, doctors told her family that her condition was irreversible and that she would never regain consciousness.

With no apparent hope left, the family made the heartbreaking decision to donate her organs to help others in need. In stepped New Mexico Donor Services, the organ procurement organization (OPO) designated to coordinate the logistics of organ harvesting but in the days leading up to the planned surgery, something didn’t feel right to Gallegos’ family.

According to her family, Danella showed subtle but unmistakable signs of life. Her sisters said they noticed tears running down her cheeks — a deeply human response. When they brought this to the donation coordinator's attention, they were told it was nothing more than a reflex.

On the day of the scheduled operation, one of her sisters claimed she felt Danella move when she held her hand. That alone should have raised immediate red flags. But the real shock came when medical staff observed Gallegos blinking in response to verbal commands — an act that clearly suggested consciousness and awareness.

Despite these signs, the organ donation coordinator present in the operating room allegedly encouraged doctors to go forward with the procedure, recommending they administer morphine and complete the surgery.

Against pressure from the donation organization, the physicians canceled the operation. That move saved Danella Gallegos’ life. In time, she emerged from her coma and ultimately made a full recovery.

Speaking after the ordeal, Gallegos admitted she felt fear while in the coma but has only patchy memories of the experience. “I feel so fortunate,” she said. “But it’s also crazy to think how close things came to ending differently.”

In response to growing scrutiny, New Mexico Donor Services denied any wrongdoing. The organization claimed it does not interfere in clinical decision-making and emphasized that only hospitals are responsible for patient care.

Presbyterian Hospital, however, painted a different picture. They asserted that New Mexico Donor Services oversees “all aspects” of the donation process. The hospital has since launched an investigation into Gallegos’s case.

Neva Williams, a veteran intensive care nurse at the hospital, offered a chilling summary to The New York Times: “All they care about is getting organs. They’re so aggressive. It’s sickening.”

This back-and-forth has laid bare the uncomfortable tension between medical ethics and the demand for transplantable organs. Here’s where it gets complicated, more than 103,000 people in the U.S. are currently on organ transplant waiting lists. Every day, approximately 13 people die waiting.

Organ procurement organizations exist to speed up the donation process and match recipients with available organs. Each donor can potentially save up to eight lives and improve 75 more through tissue and corneal donations.

Because viable organs have a very short shelf life after death, timing is everything. That urgency can create pressure — sometimes overwhelming — on hospitals and families.

The most ethically thorny donations happen under the classification of donation after circulatory death (DCD). Unlike brain death, where all brain activity has irreversibly ceased, patients in a DCD state may still have limited brain function and are typically removed from life support before organ removal begins. Doctors must wait until the heart has stopped beating for at least five minutes before they can begin the transplant process — otherwise, the organ is no longer viable.

In 2024, these DCD cases made up about one-third of all organ donations, according to government data.

What Are The Organ Donation Ethics Globally?

The United Kingdom uses an opt-out system for organ donation — meaning adults are presumed to be donors unless they explicitly say otherwise. Still, the legal framework places strong emphasis on confirming death through strict medical criteria before any organs are taken. Two main types of death are recognized:

• Circulatory death, where the heart stops beating for five continuous minutes.
• Brain stem death, which ensures the individual will never regain consciousness or breathe independently.

Importantly, in the UK, donation coordinators are strictly barred from intervening in any decisions related to life support withdrawal or patient care.

Danella Gallegos’ case has reignited an uncomfortable but necessary conversation: How much pressure is too much? When is a patient truly beyond recovery and who gets to decide? It also casts a spotlight on the increasing corporatization of organ donation, where nonprofits are under growing pressure to deliver results — often quantified in organ procurement rates — not human stories.

As the U.S. continues to rely heavily on OPOs to bridge the gap between donors and recipients, oversight and ethical accountability remain patchy at best.

While most organ donation cases proceed ethically and save countless lives, the outliers like Gallegos remind us that getting it wrong isn’t just a procedural misstep. It’s a near-death experience. For now, Gallegos is alive and healing but her experience stands as a stark reminder of what’s at stake when assumptions are made about comatose patients and when time-sensitive procedures begin to edge into dangerous ethical territory.

As hospitals and OPOs continue to work in high-pressure environments, there’s a pressing need for standardized safeguards, better oversight, and a renewed focus on what should always be the top priority, the living patient’s right to be heard, even in silence.

Health officials in the US have issued a risk of leptospirosis — a bacterial illness — in Hawaii, after the “Kona low” storm floods.

The Hawaii Department of Health (DOH) and the Hawaiian Humane Society (HHS) have urged residents and recovery workers to monitor for signs of leptospirosis that can affect both people and pets.

Leptospirosis is caused by bacteria Leptospira, which are carried in the urine of infected animals, including rats, mice, mongoose, livestock, and dogs.

The disease can spread via the urine of infected animals and can enter the human body through broken skin or through the mouth, nose, or eyes.

“Hawaii already has among the highest rates of leptospirosis in the country due to its warm, wet climate,” said HHS and DOH in a joint statement.

“Flooding events like the recent Kona low storm can dramatically increase exposure risk by spreading contaminated soil and water across a broad area,” it added.

The agency urged people to check out symptoms in pets, such as fever, decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and muscle soreness, and get medical help.

The risk of Leptospirosis outbreak is common after a storm, because the dead animals are likely to spread the bacteria. Further, flooding also forces rodents out of their burrows, leading them into homes, shelters, and debris piles where they shed bacteria more easily.

What Is Leptospirosis?

Leptospirosis is one of the most prevalent zoonotic diseases worldwide, often linked to poor sanitation and agricultural practices that involve contact with animals or contaminated water.

The bacteria can survive in contaminated water or soil for weeks to months, primarily spreading through the urine of infected animals.

Also read: With Rising Temperatures A Major Rat Infestation Is Taking Over The World- Why Is This A Health Hazard?

Humans can contract the disease through direct contact with infected urine or through contaminated food, water, or soil.

There are two main forms of leptospirosis: icteric leptospira, which presents with jaundice, and anicteric leptospira, a milder variant without jaundice. Leptospirosis can also manifest as Weil's disease, a severe complication.

What Are Symptoms Of Leptospirosis in humans?

Symptoms typically develop 2 to 30 days after exposure and can range from mild to severe. Initial signs often include

• high-grade fever,
• red eyes (conjunctival suffusion),
• calf tenderness,
• headache,
• dry cough,
• nausea,
• diarrhea.

In more serious cases, the infection can lead to complications such as

• jaundice,
• kidney damage
• liver damage,
• meningitis,
• respiratory issues,
• hemorrhages.

Pulmonary hemorrhage — acute bleeding from the lungs — can also occur, posing life-threatening risks such as respiratory and renal failure. The illness may last from a few days to several weeks, and without treatment, recovery can take months, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

What Precautions Should Be Taken?

To reduce the risk of leptospirosis infection, individuals are advised to take several important precautions. According to the CDC, it is essential to avoid wading through dirty rainwater, especially during the rainy season, and to wear gumboots in such conditions.

Proper care of any injuries or cuts is crucial, and frequent handwashing, particularly after handling food or working in potentially contaminated environments, is highly recommended. Additionally, individuals should avoid contact with animals that appear sick or are known carriers of the bacteria.

Vaccination is also vital—pet owners should ensure their pets are vaccinated against leptospirosis, especially if they are frequently exposed to water or wildlife. Staying hydrated by drinking plenty of clean water and preventing water stagnation around the home can further minimize the risk of infection.

The emerging COVID variant, BA 3.2, nicknamed “Cicada,” has revived memories of the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted the world and raised fresh concerns about the possibility of severe illness.

The variant has been given the nickname “Cicada” due to its reappearance after remaining dormant or undetected for a long period, much like cicadas that emerge after years underground.

With the variant already spread to 23 nations, as of February, experts are urging people to use masks to avoid transmission.

What Is The Cicada COVID Variant?

Cicada was first identified in a respiratory sample in South Africa in November 2024.

It is a descendant of the Omicron BA.3 lineage, and is genetically distinct from the previously circulating JN.1 lineages (including LP.8.1 and XFG).

BA.3.2 comprises two major branches, BA.3.2.1 and BA.3.2.2. BA.3.2.2 also has substitutions like: K356T, A575S, R681H, and R1162P.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated BA.3.2 as a Variant Under Monitoring (VUM). It means the variant may not be that dangerous yet, but it may have concerning mutations.

As per the US CDC’s latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Cicada has “70 to 75 substitutions and deletions in the gene sequence of its spike protein”.

Time To Mask Up

Dr. Sai Balasubramanian, a doctor and healthcare strategy executive, writing in Forbes, stressed the need to follow COVID practices such as masks and hand hygiene.

"Healthcare professionals recommend taking general precautions, similar to those used to prevent most viral transmission: get vaccinations when appropriate, wear masks in crowded areas or indoors where there is a high risk of transmission," he said.

He also urged “avoid individuals who have known illness or infections, wash hands frequently, and continue to stay apprised of local community guidelines and the infection spread”.

Cicada variant “is different from the (Covid-19) viruses we have been dealing with for the last two years," Prof Ravi Gupta, of Cambridge University, who advised the UK government during the pandemic, was quoted as saying by The Mirror.

Will The Cicada Variant Cause Severe Illness?

The SARS-CoV-2 virus has the potential to turn deadly in people, especially among vulnerable populations such as those with a weak immune system.

The Cicada variant is particularly concerning as it provides no immune protection to people with previous infection or even vaccination.

Yet, the World Health Organization and health experts advise that existing COVID vaccinations can help prevent severe illness and hospitalization.

"It would appear that all the protections we have from our experience with the virus and with vaccines probably offer more limited—not zero—but more limited protection against this strain," Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was quoted as saying by Time.

Cicada Variant: Any New Symptoms?

The symptoms of Cicada aren't different from those of previous COVID variants. These include:

• sore throat,
• fever or chills,
• headache,
• cough,
• body aches,
• runny nose
• nausea
• diarrhea.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has advised patients and physicians not to use the antiviral drug Tecovirimat SIGA (marketed as Tpoxx) to treat mpox disease.

The advisory from the EMA’s Committee for Human Medicines (CHMP) is based on data from four studies carried out in different regions, which showed that compared with placebo treatment with Tpoxx did not

• heal lesions faster
• relieve pain
• help clear the virus from the body faster.

“The animal data demonstrated antiviral activity and a survival benefit when treatment was started early and a reduced efficacy if treatment was initiated later after exposure to the virus,” the EMA said in an official statement.

However, the clade 2 mpox outbreaks, which began in 2022, led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), giving the drugmaker SIGA Technologies an opportunity to conduct efficacy studies in people.

A second PHEIC was declared in 2024 over clade 1 outbreaks.

Key recommendations by the EMA include:

• Restricting the use of Tpoxx over no benefit.
• Due to lack of safety concerns, patients who initiated treatment with Tpoxx can continue till course ends.
• Tpoxx can still be used as an antiviral to treat other orthopoxvirus infections, including smallpox and cowpox
• There is currently no other drug authorized in the EU for treating mpox infections.

Tpoxx For Mpox: What Does The US CDC Say

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also noted that the role of Tpoxx in treating mpox "is investigational".

The federal agency called for "additional clinical trials" to explore the role of Tpoxx in treating mpox infections in patients with severe immunocompromise, including advanced HIV.

"The findings from the clinical trials suggest that most patients with monkeypox who do not have severe disease or risk factors for severe disease (e.g., severe immunocompromise) will recover with supportive care and pain management," the CDC said.

Also read: Missouri Reports 2 Cases Of Deadly Clade I Mpox, US Tally Rises To 3 In 2026

What Is Mpox?

Mpox, earlier known as monkeypox, is a rare viral disease that belongs to the orthopoxvirus genus, the same family as the more well-known smallpox virus.

Though generally less severe, mpox can still lead to serious health complications, especially in immunocompromised individuals, children, and pregnant women.

The virus is transmitted from animals to humans and can spread from person to person through direct contact with infectious sores, scabs, body fluids, respiratory droplets, or contaminated materials.

Also read: Mpox Outbreak: First Case of Severe Strain Reported in New York City

The earliest signs of mpox start within 14 days of being infected. A person may not know they have mpox and can spread the disease.

The common symptoms include:

• fever,
• sweating,
• chills through the body.
• rashes, which start as a distant rash on the face and can continue throughout the body,
• swollen lymph nodes, migraine,
• muscle aches,
• fatigue,
• weakness
• back pain.

Mpox: Current Cases

In February, a total of 1,184 confirmed mpox cases and four deaths were reported from 46 countries, as per the WHO's latest outbreak update.

Of these cases, 58.6 percent were reported in Africa — mainly from Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Burundi, and Liberia.

The WHO said all clades continue to circulate, and transmission of the virus continues mostly within sexual networks, followed by household transmission. All age-groups in some historically endemic areas are being affected.

“Unless mpox outbreaks are rapidly contained and human-to-human transmission is interrupted, there is a risk of sustained community transmission in all settings,” the WHO said.