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Organ Transplant Denials Based on COVID-19 Vaccination Status Prompt Debate

February 25, 2022

March 2022

A patient at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston was denied a heart transplant because he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Experts and medical professionals say that this decision, while unpopular, is in line with the long-standing requirement that patients be up to date on their vaccinations before receiving an organ.

The Boston hospital is not alone in its refusal to operate on unvaccinated patients. Cleveland Clinic and the University of Colorado Hospital have also refused to perform transplants on unvaccinated patients.

Some see this decision as further politicization of COVID-19, but doctors and ethicists maintain that organ allocation is all about viability. With countless patients waiting for organs and finite resources available, the primary goal is to maximize the number of successful transplants. Hospitals do not want to give an organ to a patient who is at a higher risk of dying post-transplant, and death from COVID-19 is a serious risk for people with preexisting conditions. Moreover, since immunosuppressive drugs are used post-transplant, the body’s ability to fight off infection is further reduced.

Nevertheless, critics of the decision are concerned about the ethical ramifications of denying patients on the grounds of their vaccination status and have turned to the government to determine the legality of the issue. Under current federal guidelines, hospitals and clinics are largely free to design their own policies on transplants, meaning that a predicted change in life expectancy would be an acceptable factor in considering recipients.

Source: STAT, January 26, 2022.

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