Hospital denies heart transplant for man who refuses Covid vaccine [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A 31-year-old man has been denied a heart transplant because he hasn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Hospitals have the right to choose which patients are most likely to survive a transplant.
• Vaccines are required for transplant patients because they take immune system-suppressing medication.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is not performing a heart transplant on a 31-year-old patient who refuses to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

DJ Ferguson is currently fighting for his life at the hospital.

According to DJ’s family, he was at the top of the list to receive a transplant but hospital policy stipulates that he’s no longer eligible because he hasn’t received the vaccination.

“It’s kind of against his basic principles — he doesn’t believe in it,” DJ’s father, David Ferguson, told CBS Boston, “It’s a policy they are enforcing and so, because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list (for) a heart transplant.”

In a statement, Brigham and Women’s said, “Like many other transplant programs in the United States — the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors required for transplant candidates in the Mass General Brigham system in order to create both the best chance for a successful operation and also the patient’s survival after transplantation.”

Dr. Arthur Caplan, the head of medical ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, explains that being vaccinated is necessary for this type of procedure.

“Post any transplant, kidney, heart whatever, your immune system is shut off,” Caplan said. “The flu could kill you, a cold could kill you, COVID could kill you. The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving.”

DJ is a father of two children with a third child on the way. His family says they’re thinking about transferring him, but he may be too weak to be moved.

The family says DJ has received excellent care from Brigham and Women’s but they just don’t agree with the vaccination policy.

David Ferguson said his son “has integrity and principles he really believes in” which is why the family is sticking by his side. “It’s his body. It’s his choice,” Ferguson added.

Source: CBS News