Ex-Eye Bank Workers Say Pressure, Lax Oversight Led to Errors - KFF Health News

Corneas are the most commonly transplanted body part in the U.S. , with nearly 51,000 transplants last year .

Organ and tissue donations are guided by different rules, with less transparency and what critics identify as more self-policing in the tissue donation industry.

New technicians often arrive at the eye bank untrained, sometimes with only a high school diploma, to perform the grim job of removing corneas from recently deceased corpses.

FDA officials disagree that the tissue industry is largely self-regulated, pointing to federal rules that require certain organizations to register with the agency and provide a list of human cells or tissues they recover, store, or distribute.

A similar registry in the U.S. could help monitor outcomes for patients and identify adverse events from transplant procedures.

The Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank has international contracts and ships corneas to Japan and the U.K. , among other destinations.

It became the exclusive eye tissue provider for Ireland when that country stopped collecting it over fears of transmitting mad cow disease.

Employee says the workplace culture made it untenable for her to leave the eye bank.