Without a vaccine against Covid-19, a 31-year-old American will not be able to receive a heart transplant. The hospital where it was put on hold removed it from the list, preferring to reserve the organ for vaccinated patients, presenting a better chance of survival.
“Organs are rare, we are not going to distribute them to someone who is unlikely to live while others who are vaccinated have a better chance of surviving after the operation.” This is how the refusal of a heart transplant was justified by Dr. Arthur Caplan, medical ethics officer at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, to CBS News, quoted by the Parisian.
A decision that shocked his entourage, who launched a kitty to support this 31-year-old American, suffering from a hereditary heart problem and who has been hospitalized in a Boston hospital since November 26. According to the man’s father, the vaccine goes against his beliefs. “It’s her body, it’s her choice“, he pleads.
“weakened immune system”
According to a hospital spokesperson, the choice not to be vaccinated also justifies the choice not to grant him the transplant: “The Covid-19 vaccine and the lifestyle behaviors of transplant candidates must allow the best chance of success of the operation and to optimize the patient’s survival after the transplant, since his immune system is considerably weakened“.
Le Parisien also stresses that this kind of decision is not a first in the United States, since according to the BBC, a woman has already taken legal action in Minesotta against her hospital because of the behavior of doctors, who tried to disconnect her husband’s respirator, unvaccinated.
If he is no longer on the list, this American loses all chance of receiving a transplant. The hospital also justifies its choice by the very large number of requests and the shortage of organs, causing a very long waiting list.