Heart Transplant Denied to 31-Year-Old Patient Who Refused to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine

A hospital in Boston was recently reported to deny a new heart transplant after the patient refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and now, the health care facility is defending itself for such an action.

As specified in an NPR report, according to Brigham and Women's Hospital, most transplant programs around the country are setting the same requirements to improve patients' chances of survival.

This week, the family of D.J. Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal, officials at the hospital told the 31-year-old patient, a father of two, that he was not eligible for the procedure since he had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

They also said they are "literally in a corner right now," adding it is very time-sensitive. The fundraising appeal has been able to raise tens of thousands of dollars.

Unvaccinated

Tracey Ferguson, the patient's mother, insisted her son is not against the COVID-19 vaccine and noted he has had other immunizations before.

The trained nurse said on Wednesday though, that the man has been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an irregular and frequently rapid rhythm of the heart, and that he has apprehensions about the adverse effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The mother added her son is an informed patient and wants his doctors to assure him that his condition would not worsen or be deadly with the vaccine against coronavirus.

Brigham Women's Hospital declined to comment on the case of D.J., referring to patient privacy laws. Nonetheless, the hospital pointed to a response posted on its website. It stated the COVID-19 vaccine is one of the many immunizations needed by most United States transplant programs, including a flu vaccine and Hepatitis B shots.

Unvaccinated Transplant Recipients at Higher Risk

According to the hospital, studies have shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying because of COVID-19. Its policies are in accordance with the American Society of Transplantation's and other health organizations' recommendations.

Essentially, patients need to meet other health and lifestyle criteria to undergo transplants with donated organs, and it remains unknown if the D.J. did or would have met such criteria.

The hospital also emphasized that no patient is included on an organ waitlist without meeting the said criteria and declined the idea that a candidate for a transplant could be considered "first on the list" for an organ, a claim the patient's family made in its first post for the fundraising, reported ABC News.

The hospital's report on the website also stated at present; there are over 100,000 candidates on waitlists for organ transplantation, not to mention a shortage of available organs; around 50 percent of people on the said list are not going to receive an organ within five years.

Shortage of Donor Organs

Hospitals located in other states have experienced the same criticism for declining transplants to patients, unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Last year, in Colorado, a woman with late-stage kidney disease said she was rejected a transplant by her hospital because she was not vaccinated against coronavirus.

A Born Again Christian, Leilani Lutali said she contradicted vaccination because of the role played by the fetal cell lines in some development of vaccines.

There is a shortage of donor organs, so transplant centers are only including patients on the waiting list from whom they believe the most possible to survive with a new organ.

The National Institutes of Health posted guidelines for organ transplants and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Report about the Boston hospital denying the patient's heart transplant is shown on CBS News's YouTube video below:

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