Heart
What do you think? Is this a logical rationale? Unfair ?
January 26, 2022
in Heart
**It's sad, but the reality is 👇
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"Given the shortage of available organs, we do everything we can to ensure that a patient who receives a transplanted organ has the greatest chance of survival.
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**And the 31 year old individual believes 👇
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"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," said David Ferguson.
"It's his body. It's his choice."
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1 - 10 of 10 Replies
My body, my choice.
But give me those donor organs that my body might literally reject and please pump me full of various other medicines and treatments so I can live.
Sorry, dude.
Transplant patients already have myriad requirements to live by in the pre-transplant phase and agonizing choices to make afterwards every_single_day. I can't eat my favorite food, for example. Yeah, it's my body and my choice - but I choose to live so I don't eat sushi.
It's reality - but I don't think it's sad.
Transplant Patient
is there a medical reason he can’t get the shot? I would be curious more at his reasoning. I feel like it’s not just as black and white as people make it out to be. But with the organ shortage, it is the hospitals right to say you can’t receive an organ unless you’re vaccinated.
I can't quite get behind his logic in understanding why he would like one thing that would save his life and not another, but it is a fine line to walk. There could be reasons that he can't get the shot and that should definitely be taken into account by doctors when dealing with the situation but the fact that there is a shortage of organs it would make sense to me to have the organ go to someone with a higher likelihood of survival than one that does not. But again this is a very fine line to walk
Transplant Patient
There's much more to this story, obviously. Essentially, he's not someone who can be 'compliant'. As most of us recipients know, that 'C' word is a big part of a successful transplant!
Most of us had to undergo extensive evaluations, with regard to 'transplant readiness' (physical, mental and everything in between). One of the items on the readiness checklist is "status of vaccinations. So, irrespective of vaccines to defend against COVID-19, before qualifying to be added to the Transplant wait list, the medical staff needs to ensure that the patient is up-to-date with all required vaccinations.(tetanus, MMR, Flu, pneumonia etc ).
In my opinion this individual should never have been able to on the waiting list, let alone receive a transplant.
Thank you all for sharing your perspectives.
Transplant Patient
Agree with all - thanks to @Sdey0522 for bringing this topic up! As long as we live in symbiosis with others, we must do what is best for the common good and ultimately of course for ourselves. Otherwise we are not a successful society
Just another dumb person believing in some conspiracy trying to prove himself right in the face of science. He refuses, so he knows the consequences of his actions. It is he making the decision not to have a transplant, everyone else wants to save his life. Funny thing is that many people will praise him for his heroic stance. The transplant does not even matter. He could be dying of Covid in the hospital and refuses the vaccine that makes him better, same thing.
Transplant Patient
@montreal playing the devil’s advocate here, I actually attended a lecture last week on transplant vaccines and the ethical debate surrounding if they (particularly the Covid vaccine) should be mandatory. I didn’t think anything would even slightly sway my opinion but this ethicist managed to do it! If you’re interested, I can try to get the recording for you
Please do. One last thing concerning the topic; I have read about very overweight and even a drug abuser receive heart transplants. They are doing fine now. Although it breaks all of the rules, some hospitals have made exceptions and have provided some bright smiles for dying people. But they complied. Sure, send it over AliEm...14
Transplant Patient
it doesn't look like the recording has been posted yet (this was literally only a few days ago) but when it's up I'll include it in this thread.
Just some thoughts that I have - i don't think it's ever as simple as someone just ignoring science and refusing to get a vaccine. There is a ton of nuance in everything (not just vaccine requirements, but so much that has to do with transplantation and healthcare). There are so many reasons why someone couldn't or wouldn't get vaccinated. My personal feelings on whether or not someone should recieve the covid vaccine prior to being listed for transplant seem irrelevant, and the bigger question I try to focus on is is the vaccine requirement ethical, is it permissable for centers to put this in place, is it beneficial to everyone involved and what, if any, are the alternatives? I don't envy doctors and transplant centres in having to make these decisions.
The other thing I come back to is say an unvaccinated person got listed. In a situation with 3 recipients and 2 organs (or whatever number, since we know there aren't as many organs as people in need and people die on the list all the time) there is still someone not recieving an organ. If there were more organs available for transplant, would the question of needing to be vaccinated even be on the table? Isn't then the issue I'm mad about one where there is an organ supply shortage and people are dying on the list, rather than one specific unvaccinated person getting on the list and potentially recieving a transplant?
I've found the best way to be really clear on my position, and why, is to be able to argue and understand both sides.