LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — There's been a lot of discussion online after a man in a Boston hospital was denied a heart transplant based on his vaccination status.
In a GoFundMe account set up by the man's friend, the organizer wrote: "He was accepted to be a candidate for heart transplant. The bad news is that the transplant board will not actively list him due to his vaccination status."
This raised questions from a THV11 VERIFY viewer that asked: "Can a hospital refuse to let you be an organ donor if you are unvaccinated against COVID-19? What vaccine requirements are in place for people donating and receiving organs?"
To get the answers, we asked Arkansas hospitals about their rules.
Dr. Lyle Burdine with UAMS said: "Evidence to date indicates that vaccination against COVID-19 for transplant recipients and donors helps avoid death and sickness."
But that's not all, he followed up adding — "There are currently no mandates for vaccination in the transplant program for anyone. We are not planning on making it mandatory unless required by law.
Dr. John Ransom, program director at Baptist Health Transplant Institute confirmed that the hospital would not impose restrictions on donors based on vaccination status.
But, when it comes to receiving an organ, Ransom said: "We do require a patient to have CDC recommended vaccines in order to be listed for a heart transplant. This helps to ensure the best possible outcome and optimize the patient's survival while being immunocompromised. This is in line with other transplant programs across the country."
So… that begs the question, why the different rules? Well, the American Society of Transplantation urges getting the shot– but said this decision should be left up to individual hospitals.
"We support the development of institutional policies regarding pre-transplant vaccination as we believe that this is in the best interest of the transplant candidate"
So we can VERIFY– YES, individual hospitals may choose to deny organ transplantation to unvaccinated people.
If you have something you'd like verified, let us help. Email us – verify@thv11.com.
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