No corona vaccination, no surgery: hospital refuses vital heart transplant

Created: 01/27/2022, 10:18 am

A critical care nurse on the ward.

(symbol photo) © Sebastian Gollnow/dpa

A man is denied vital surgery in the United States.

The reason is his missing corona vaccination.

The father is stunned.

Boston – In the USA*, a hospital in the metropolitan area of ​​Boston refused a heart transplant to a patient who was not vaccinated against the corona virus.

The 31-year-old patient's father, David Ferguson, told CNN and ABC TV that his son had been removed from the clinic's list of heart transplant candidates because he did not want to be vaccinated against Corona*.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said that the corona vaccination was one of the “requirements” for organ transplants in the clinic.

In addition, there would be further requirements for the affected patients.

It must be ensured that a patient has a good chance of survival after the organ transplant because his immune system is then "drastically suppressed".

"We're running out of time": father of unvaccinated rages

Ferguson said his son is "on the brink of death."

The 31-year-old rejects the corona vaccination because it contradicts his “basic principles”: “He doesn’t believe in it.” Ferguson said he respected his son’s decision.

He now wants to transfer him to another hospital.

"But we're running out of time," he added.

Numerous hospitals and clinics are at the breaking point.

Some send out dramatic cries for help.*

The medical ethicist Arthur Caplan from New York University referred to the immense risks of corona infections for patients with freshly transplanted organs on the CBS broadcaster.

“When you get an organ transplant, your immune system is completely turned off.

Covid could kill you.”

Caplan expressed understanding for the decision of clinics to only transplant organs from vaccinated people.

“The organs are sparse.

You would not give them to someone who has a low chance of survival when there are other vaccinated (candidates) who have better chances of survival after an operation.” (tu/AFP)