Attorney General John Holdera at a 2023 press conference.
Todd Bookman
Is this a way to end American healthcare? Is it a whisper of consent rather than a bang?
We are moving not only to the US Senate Republican Craven, but despite clear uncertainty, along with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination, as he most certainly does, to be number one of the public health enemies, but also to something much closer to home.
New Hampshire Attorney General General John Formela last month waived Dartmouth Health's accepted kidney transplant treatment protocols and managed to replace Fringe's opinion embodied in state law for the respected clinical decisions of health professionals.
At Formella's request, DH dropped the requirement that kidney transplant candidates be vaccinated against Covid-19, even when organ transplant patients are at a much higher risk of death or severely ill. This is due to the regimen of immunosuppressant drugs that the body must follow to prevent rejection of the implanted organ.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last saw the Covid vaccination for anyone whose immune system is violated, but if Kennedy is in charge, you should be prepared to find that advice will be removed.
Fermera was caught in action when a Guilford, New Hampshire resident opposed the vaccine requirement to reach the kidney transplant list. According to New Hampshire Public Radio, she said there are safe concerns about the Covid vaccine given her vulnerable health condition.
Calls the 2022 provisions of the state's Bill of Rights for Patients – “Patients will not be denied hospitalization, care or service based solely on the patient's vaccination status” – Intervention on behalf of the patient was intervened by Fercera.
“After reviewing the issue and being involved in Dartmouth's health, we are pleased that they have taken the necessary steps to match their policies with patient rights and state law requirements,” he announced in mid-January.
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According to NHPR, Health System has reported that it has been responsible for clinical policy based on “proven scientific data” to support the best patient outcomes and has decided to remove vaccine requirements after “extensive reviews.” Do you wonder if this means that proven scientific data no longer supports vaccine requirements, or simply means that DH concluded there is no legal path to challenge state law? If the honorable healthcare system does not oppose the politicization of science, it seems they will not invite more mysterious interference. In the future, DH will strongly encourage, but does not require, vaccination of kidney transplant recipients.
Apart from the individual cases, this episode raises many other more general questions.
Does the transplant recipient pay the donor to take all possible precautions to ensure that the procedure is successful and that the organs thrive and endure? Even if the donor agrees to a lack of vaccination, the obligation to respect the gift appears to be of paramount importance when there is or may be a difference between life and death.
Similarly, do those who entrust their lives to sophisticated medical miracles such as kidney transplants decide that only a portion of the expert guidance provided is worthy of attention?
Do you refuse to receive covid vaccinations at the time of treatment or future, and will you complicate or compromise the complex regime of immunosuppressive drugs?
How do you think that highly specialized transplant teams are forced to ignore important safety precautions that could undermine the success of their mission? Often, they care deeply about their patients and their well-being, not just at the time of implantation, but for years afterwards. If patients do not take simple precautions, who can blame them for feeling betrayed? And does not have a covid vaccination of patients pose a risk to them?
What effects will this new rule have on potential donors who may fear that gifts will be wasted?
And as long as everyone pays for health care, isn't the public interested in making sure the dollar won't be wasted on expensive treatments for transplant patients whose recovery and health are at risk by refusing a vaccine?
When medicine becomes a playground for politicians, we are all trying to find it, so there's no good from that.
