HOUSTON – In Colorado, a hospital is in the spotlight after a patient claims she’s been given a deadline to get the vaccine or be bumped off the transplant waiting list.
In an interview with KUSA in Denver, Leilani Lutali said she’s not comfortable with getting the shot and doesn’t know where to turn.
“I’m being coerced into making a decision that is one I’m not comfortable making right now in order to live,” she told the TV station.
At Houston transplant centers, they gave this response to the news:
Houston Methodist Hospital
“We do not have a policy like this in place. Most of the covid-19 patients who received lung transplants here got sick before the vaccine was available to them.”
Memorial Hermann
No response as of this broadcast.
UTMB
“We encourage our patients undergoing transplant to protect themselves by getting vaccinated pretransplant as post-transplant immunosuppression will reduce their likelihood to mount good antibody response. We are not denying anyone to get evaluated for transplant based on vaccination status.”
St. Luke’s
No response as of this broadcast.