Hospitals: Get Vaccinated or No Transplant!

So far I have heard of two people being turned down for kidney transplants because of Covid-19 vaccination issues. I understand that after a kidney transplant one has to take immunosuppressing medication to prevent rejection of the donated kidney, and we know that people taking such medications are at higher risk of hospitalization and death from Covid-19.  Hospital systems do not want any excess mortality showing up in their transplant units numbers, and individual physicians get bad marks for excess complications and mortality, but isn't it up to the patient if he is willing to take that added risk? 

The most absurd example was where one person was rejected because his donor was not vaccinated! 

"...five days before the operation—Cleveland Clinic called the Ganims to tell them that it was being put on hold because George (the donor) isn’t vaccinated for COVID-19, even though Mike Ganim (the recipient) is."

“'I don't know what that's going to mean. They called Mike and they said how sorry they are. The surgeons are devastated that this is a decision that came from the high up,' said Debi Ganim."

Kidney transplants are done for people on kidney dialysis, and while old folks only live 3-4 years on dialysis, younger people can live longer but average 10-12 years, so many times things can wait until another donor becomes available. 

Heart transplantation is different in that one's lifespan once the decision has been made to be put on "the list" is often measured in weeks to months, so if a hospital turns down a patient for a heart transplant because of refusal to be vaccinated, there might be a serious breach of the "Physician do no harm" ethic. The following is such a case from CBS Boston, 

BOSTON (CBS) – David Ferguson is speaking out passionately on behalf of his son DJ. He says the 31-year-old is fighting for his life at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and in desperate need of a heart transplant.

“My son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he’s been pushed to the limit,” Ferguson said.

The family says he was at the front of the line to receive a transplant but because he has not received the COVID-19 vaccination he is no longer eligible according to hospital policy. Ferguson says his son refuses to get the shot.

“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 said.

Brigham and Women’s released a statement saying, “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.”

Dr. Arthur Caplan is Head of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He says 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.”

The key word from Dr. Caplan is that Covid-19 "could" kill. So could getting in a car accident going home from the hospital. Does lack of a vaccination give this man a poorer chance of surviving compared to vaccinated heart recipients? Show me the data Dr. Caplan. You won't be able to because there are no randomized controlled studies to prove your point.

So, hospitals are sentencing people to death over their refusal to be vaccinated. 

Does anybody else have a problem with this?