A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man’s family said that he was denied a heart transplant since he refused to get immunized against COVID-19. The hospital claims that most transplant programmes across the country use the same standards to improve patients’ chances of survival.
Officials at Brigham and Women’s Hospital notified D.J. Ferguson, a 31-year-old and a father of two, that he was ineligible for the treatment because he hadn’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to his family in a crowdfunding appeal this week.
“Right now, we have backed into a corner.” The family stated in its fundraising campaign, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars, that “this is incredibly time urgent.” “This isn’t a just political problem. People must be able to choose!”
Tracey Ferguson, D.J.’s mother, claims that her kid isn’t anti-vaccine, adding that he’s had previous shots in the past. However, the trained nurse revealed on Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, a heart rhythm that is irregular and often rapid, and that he is concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine’s side effects.
In a brief interview at her home in Mendon, about 30 miles (48 kilometres) southwest of Boston, Tracey Ferguson said, “D.J. is an informed patient.” “He wants assurance from his doctors that this COVID vaccine will not make his illness worse or fatal.”
Patient privacy regulations prevented Brigham and Women’s Hospital from commenting on D.J. Ferguson’s case. However, it cited a comment on its website that stated that the COVID-19 vaccination is one of several immunizations recommended by most US transplant programmes, which also include a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines.
The hospital stated that research has indicated that transplant recipients are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19 than non-transplant patients, and that its practises are in line with the American Society of Transplantation and other health organisations’ recommendations.
Patients must also meet certain health and lifestyle requirements in order to receive donated organs, and it’s unclear if D.J. Ferguson did or would have met these requirements.
“There are currently over 100,000 people on organ transplant waiting lists, and there is a shortage of available organs,” the hospital said. “Roughly half of those on waiting lists will not receive an organ within five years.”
Similar criticism has been levelled at hospitals in other states for refusing to perform transplants on individuals who had not been inoculated against COVID-19.
Last year, a woman with late-stage kidney failure in Colorado claimed that a hospital denied her a transplant because she was unvaccinated.
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