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Colorado Springs woman removed from active waitlist for kidney transplant due to not being vaccinated, with UCHealth hospital system saying it will refuse potentially life-saving procedure to unvaccinated people.
Transplant candidate Leilani Lutali said she received a letter from the University of Colorado hospital informing her that she was “Inactivated” on the waiting list for “Non-compliance by not receiving the Covid vaccine”, and that she had 30 days to get her first shot back to active status, a local Fox affiliate reported Wednesday.
“If your decision is to refuse the Covid vaccination, you will be removed from the list of kidney transplants”, the letter continued, quoted from a copy obtained and shared on Twitter by Colorado State Representative Tem Geitner.
You will continue to accumulate wait time, but you will not receive a kidney offer while you are inactive. Once you have completed the Covid vaccination series, you will be reactivated on the kidney transplant list pending any further changes in your condition.
Lutali – whose potential kidney donor is also believed to be unvaccinated – said his life would be “in danger” if she is denied the procedure and has expressed concern about the vaccine for unspecified religious reasons. She also argued that it might not have the desired effect due to the immunosuppressive drugs that would be given after the transplant.
“Both from a religious point of view and from some reading, I’m not sure this is the right way to go” she told local media. “The shot is relatively new, and as a consumer I’m not an early adopter. I’m waiting to see what happens.
I feel like I’m forced not to be able to wait and see, and that I have to take the blow if I want this life-saving transplant.
Lutali said she had already contracted the virus last summer and that she was “almost asymptomatic”. She added: “If I … fell with a second case of Covid, it would be minimal”, suggesting that she may have some level of natural immunity.
The UCHealth hospital system described its vaccination policy in a lengthy statement provided to the media on Wednesday, explaining that transplant surgeries are “unique” procedures that involve risk of “Serious complications” up to and including death, and that all precautions must be taken to avoid side effects.
“In almost all situations, transplant recipients and living donors at UCHealth must now be vaccinated against Covid-19 in addition to meeting other health requirements and receiving additional vaccinations. “ the hospital said, noting that other transplant centers across the United States have adopted the same policies.
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Organ recipients face “considerable risk” of Covid-19 post-surgery, the hospital noted, citing research that found a much higher coronavirus death rate in transplant patients.
Nonetheless, State Representative Geitner, a Republican representing El Paso County, unleashed UCHealth for the decision, saying on Tuesday: “Understanding is fundamentally… consistent with this demand. Take this Covid vaccine or else you will be denied a lifesaving procedure. “
Geitner also said during a live Facebook broadcast that he contacted the hospital system on several occasions, seeking to make an exception for Lutali’s case in particular.
I’ve had 2-3 exchanges, in fact – a few texts, a few phone calls, a few emails – in and around this issue. There is very little that UCHealth is willing to do … a policy exemption or a policy change or accommodation or whatever.
However, some critics have objected to the outrage, with one observer noting that vaccines and other lifestyle issues are routinely factored into transplant decisions, saying it “Current medical practice”.
“The exclusion criteria for limited organs are standard medical practice. In the case of the kidneys, this includes blood type, match level, location, donor-recipient size, smoking, obesity, infections, heart disease, and other survival risks. long term. Nothing new,” Colorado Sun Columnist Trish Zornio tweeted.
Yes, those with the best chance of long-term survival always get priority for transplants. This is standard ethical practice, and an immunocompromised patient is at very high risk of serious outcome or death with COVID-19. Non-vaccination is therefore a valid exclusion.
– Trish Zornio (@trish_zornio) October 5, 2021
The exclusion criteria for limited organs are standard medical practice. In the case of the kidneys, this includes blood type, match level, location, donor-recipient size, smoking, obesity, infections, heart disease, and other survival risks. long term. Nothing new.https: //t.co/Dtjq6X0s2d
– Trish Zornio (@trish_zornio) October 6, 2021
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