Transplant monitor lax in oversight

In the past year, UNOS has been blindsided by life-threatening lapses at centers it oversees. After The Times uncovered such problems at two California programs, both abruptly closed.

UNOS' failures in those cases are part of a larger national pattern of uneven and often weak oversight. At times, the group appears more intent on protecting hospitals than patients themselves, the newspaper has found.

Since 1986, the federal government has contracted with UNOS to oversee everything from how organs are harvested to where they end up.