Unvaccinated Man’s Father Denied Heart Transplant Says Son Has Received Heart Pump
TRACEY FERGUSON PHOTO VIA AP/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The family of a Massachusetts man who alleges he was denied a heart transplant because he isn’t immune to COVID-19 is speaking out this week, expressing their dismay at a hospital policy that says he isn’t eligible to have the procedure.
According to a fundraising appeal set up by his mother, Tracey Ferguson, David Ferguson Jr., often known as D.J., has been undergoing treatment at hospitals across Boston since late November after suffering complications from atrial fibrillation and deteriorating heart failure.
According to the fundraising post, the 31-year-old was told by Brigham & Women’s Hospital officials that he was ineligible for the transplant because he had not been vaccinated against the deadly virus.
“It sucks because his nurses have been amazing to him, his doctors have been amazing to him,” Heather Dawson, Ferguson’s partner, told Carlson.
The Ferguson family has been vocal about D.J.’s case on social media and in the media.
D.J. Ferguson’s father, David Ferguson, told WBZ earlier this week, “My son has gone to the edge of death to stick to his guns and he’s been pushed to the limit.” The family also appeared on Fox Wednesday’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” where they praised Ferguson’s care at Brigham and Women’s but expressed disappointment with the transplant policy.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital has declined to comment on Ferguson’s case, citing patient privacy laws. But the policy posted on its website states: “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. Patients are not active on the waitlist without this.”
According to the Brigham policy, research reveals that transplant recipients have a substantially higher probability of dying from COVID-19 than non-transplant individuals. The American Society of Transplantation, American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation have all issued similar guidance.
“Like most other transplant programs across the country, the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several vaccines and lifestyle behaviors that are required for patients awaiting a solid organ transplant,” the policy states.
As per Bostonglobe, there are currently over 100,000 people on organ transplant waiting lists, and there aren’t enough organs to go around. According to hospital policy, “around half of people on waiting lists will not receive an organ within 5 years.”
Dawson expressed her family’s position on the COVID-19 vaccine in a post on Facebook that linked to another GoFundMe fundraising campaign.
“Is my family vaccinated? No. Do I need to explain why? No. Do we care if you’re vaccinated? No,” Dawson wrote. “Is DJ in a position where he now needs a vaccine to get a life-saving procedure? Yes. Is he going to choose to die instead of getting it? No.”
Tracey Ferguson told the Associated Press that her son isn’t against vaccinations, but that he is concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine because of his cardiac problem.
“D.J. is an informed patient,” Tracey Ferguson told AP. “He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be worse or fatal with this COVID vaccine.”
D.J. underwent open-heart surgery on Tuesday, according to ABC News and the GoFundMe page, and a pump was installed to “mechanically pump his heart until a donor’s heart becomes available.” David Ferguson said his son’s surgery took seven hours in the Carlson interview. “So now my boy has a pump,” he said, “he’s in recovery.”
According to the Fergusons, the pump might keep D.J. alive for as long as five years.
Patients who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 are likewise ineligible for transplant procedures in other states, according to hospital standards. According to the Associated Press, a woman with late-stage renal failure in Colorado was denied a transplant by her hospital because she was unvaccinated.
