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The New York Organ Donor Network is trying to block a judge's order to release medical records to a whistleblower who claims the group pushed hospital staff to declare patients brain dead so their body parts could be harvested.

The network has appealed Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arlene Bluth's April order to disclose the charts of four dead patients to Patrick McMahon, a nurse practitioner who claims he was fired as a transplant coordinator in 2011 after protesting against the practice. The network has denied McMahon's claims, but it also refuses to hand over the documents.

Network lawyers say family members of two of the deceased have "explicitly objected" to the release. The lawyers also say the disclosure would violate the families' privacy rights.

Bluth ruled that "organ procurement organizations" are not covered by legislation. She added that there's a confidentiality order that would prevent anyone except for McMahon and his attorneys from viewing the records.

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