Story at a glance
- A hospital patient in Boston is now ineligible to receive a heart transplant because he is unvaccinated.
- The hospital said in a statement that the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several other vaccinations required for transplants.
- The man’s father told the affiliate his son has received excellent care from the hospital but said the family does not agree with the vaccine policy and is “aggressively pursuing all options.”
A hospital patient in Boston is now ineligible to receive a heart transplant because he is unvaccinated, according to the patient’s family.
David Ferguson told CBS 4 his son D.J. was removed from his place on the transplant line at Brigham and Women’s Hospital because his 31-year-old son will not get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“It’s kind of against his basic principles; he doesn’t believe in it. It’s a policy they are enforcing and so because he won’t get the shot, they took him off the list of a heart transplant,” Ferguson told the outlet.
The hospital said in a statement that the COVID-19 vaccine is only one of several other vaccinations required for transplants.
“And 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.”
The hospital stated on its website that transplant candidates “must also receive the seasonal influenza and hepatitis B vaccines, follow other healthy behaviors, and demonstrate they can commit to taking the required medications” following the procedure.
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A Brigham and Women’s Hospital spokesperson reiterated the hospital’s policy to the New York Post, saying it does everything it can “to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival.”
“Our Mass General Brigham healthcare system requires several CDC-recommended vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine, and lifestyle behaviors for transplant candidates to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimize the patient’s survival after transplantation, given that their immune system is drastically suppressed,” the spokesperson said.
“Patients are not active on the waitlist without this,” they added.
CBS four reported that the family of the father of two has received excellent care from the hospital, but they do not agree with the vaccine policy and are “aggressively pursuing all options.”
“I think my boy is fighting pretty damn courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in and that makes me respect him all the more,” Ferguson told the outlet.
Changing America has reached out to Brigham and Women’s hospital for comment.
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