A heart Transplant For An Unvaccinated Man Has Been Denied By A Boston Hospital
A patient requesting a heart transplant in the United States was turned down, at least in part, because he had not been vaccinated against Covid-19.
DJ Ferguson, 31, is in desperate need of a new heart, but his father, David, claims that Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston has taken him off their waiting list.
He claims that the Covid vaccine contradicts his son's "fundamental ideals" and that he "doesn't believe in it."
The hospital stated that it was adhering to protocol.
"Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to guarantee that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the best chance of survival," Brigham and Women's Hospital said.
"The Covid-19 vaccination, as well as lifestyle behaviors for transplant candidates," a spokeswoman stated, "are required to create both the best possibility for a successful operation and to optimize the patient's survival following transplantation, given that their immune system is dramatically suppressed."
The hospital's carefully worded statement may imply that the patient's ineligibility is due to causes other than his lack of vaccination, but it refused to divulge specifics, citing patient privacy.
Because of the paucity of available organs, the majority of the 100,000 people on organ transplant waiting lists will not receive an organ within five years, according to the hospital.
According to a GoFundMe page, Mr Ferguson has been in the hospital since last Thanksgiving weekend, November 26th, 2021, and he has a hereditary heart condition that causes his lungs to fill with blood and fluid.
Mr Ferguson was concerned that he might experience cardiac inflammation, a potential side effect of coronavirus vaccination that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes is rare and temporary, and that it could be dangerous given his heart's weakness, according to the fundraiser's organizer.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises transplant recipients and others in their immediate circle to get completely vaccinated and boosted.