BOSTON, Mass. (SHNS)--New England Donor Services coordinated a record level of life-saving organ donations and transplants in 2024, but the organization also warned that too many donated organs are not being used. NEDS, the region's federally designated nonprofit responsible for recovering organs and tissues for transplants, logged 648 organ donations from deceased individuals in 2024, an 18% increase over the prior year. Those donations translated into 1,570 organ transplants, an increase of 12% compared to 2023. New England Donor Services seeking more organ donors this holiday season NEDS CEO Alexandra Glazier said federal reforms are needed to improve the effectiveness of donation and transplant efforts. "Currently, a misalignment in federal regulations results in too many donated organs that are recovered and offered for transplant by organizations such as NEDS ultimately going unused by transplant programs for patients waiting," Glazier said. "For our national system to continue growing the number of life-saving transplants, it is critical that regulatory reform be pursued as quickly as possible.” On Beacon Hill last session, Sean Fitzpatrick, chief public affairs officer at NEDS, said the donation community "strongly supported" bills that sought to protect living donors from possible discrimination in health care insurance and to add bone marrow and organ donation into the state's paid family and medical leave program. The proposals cleared initial committees but failed to reach the House and Senate floors for votes. NEDS attributed its success in 2024 to staff engaging with families earlier during end-of-life discussions involving non-survivable brain injuries, using "state-of-the art" devices and techniques to improve the function of donated organs before they're transplanted, employing three fulltime surgeons to recover organs, and recruiting and retaining "top clinical professionals." The organization also managed the recovery of tissue from 1,840 donors, including cornea, bone, skin and heart valves. NEDS said there was a "particular need" for skin grafts for post-mastectomy procedures. Sen. Adam Gomez received a kidney transplant in 2023. The Springfield Democrat said he learned about the potential donation in a social media post from a constituent who had just lost her father and was considering donating his organs. An organ donor can save up to eight lives, while a tissue donor can heal 75 people, according to NEDS. Since 2020, NEDS has increased the annual number of organ donors by 80 percent.