As of October 2021, the Cleveland Clinic will not permit patients who have not gotten COVID-19 vaccine to undergo lifesaving organ transplants, either as a recipient or a living donor. The clinic’s reasoning is that the recipient, who receives immunosuppressant drugs post-transplant, could be at high risk of contracting SARS-Cov-2. The unvaccinated will not be accepted as living organ donors due to the possibility that the virus could be transmitted to the transplant recipient during the operation.1
According to the clinic:
Living donation for organ transplantation has been a life-saving treatment, but it is not without risks to the donor. For the living donor, preventing COVID-19 infection around the time of their surgery and recovery is crucial.2
Cleveland Clinic officials point to a John Hopkins University study that found that kidney transplant patients who received a COVID vaccine after the transplant procedure did not mount a sufficient immune response to vaccination. The study showed that less than one out of every five kidney transplant patients amounted a strong response to the vaccine. However, a subsequent Johns Hopkins study showed that transplant recipients who received a COVID booster did amount a sufficient antibody response.3
Cleveland Clinic Denies Transplant to Unvaccinated Nine-Year-Old with Only One Failing Kidney
Nine-year-old Tanner Donaldson is being denied a kidney transplant because of Cleveland Clinic’s rigid COVID vaccine restrictions on organ transplant procedures. Tanner, who was born with only one kidney currently functioning at between 18-20 percent, will need a transplant soon. Fortunately, his father, Dane Donaldson, is a perfect match and a willing donor. Although Tanner has been under the care of the Clinic since his birth, he is unable to receive the organ transplant due to recent changes to the clinic’s transplant policy.4
Dane Donaldson was found to be a kidney transplant match for his son in 2018. The family decided to wait a few years for Tanner to have the surgery as a kidney from a live donor is only expected to last about 20 years and Tanner is so young. However, because the Donaldson’s are not vaccinated due to their personal and religious beliefs, the Cleveland Clinic refuses to perform the life-saving operation it had previously agreed to perform.5
Both of Tanners parents along with Tanner and his older sibling survived a bout with COVID and have natural immunity from the virus but the clinic has not changed their policy and has not responded to the family’s lawyer’s requests for a religious exemption.6 7
Kidneys from Unvaccinated Dead Donors are Used But Unvaccinated Live Kidney Donors are Turned Away
In an article in The Epoch Times, the Donaldsons pointed out that the hospital’s policy allows the kidneys of unvaccinated deceased donors to be used for kidney transplants but turns away unvaccinated live kidney donors.
Commenting on the contradiction, Dane Donaldson said:
A live donor is the best donor for kidneys, but they’ll take a kidney from a deceased person not vaccinated, it makes no sense.8
Despite the Donaldson’s offer to sign a liability waiver protecting the clinic should he or Tanner come down with COVID post-transplant, the clinic continues to refuse to perform the procedure for Tanner, maintaining that:
We continually strive to minimize risk to our living donors, and vaccination is an important component to ensure the safest approach and optimal outcomes for donors.9
The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) sent a letter to the Cleveland Clinic listing a number of studies showing that it is rare for a person to be reinfected with COVID after recovering from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which included a study published by the clinic itself. In that study looking at 52,238 vaccinated and unvaccinated health care workers, not one of the previously infected unvaccinated health care workers were reinfected with the virus over a five-month period.10
In an ABC-TV report, Dane Donaldson said about the Cleveland Clinic and his young son…
I don’t know what we do today. You know, I gotta think somewhere out there, that cooler heads would prevail and we could, you know, I’d love it still to be at the Clinic and us come around and have some type of dialogue and say, ‘Okay, you know, let’s look at your case,’” said Donaldson. “We’re trying to put plan B in place. The number one thing I can do is keep him as healthy as possible and I can remain and keep my health the best I can. But it’s stressful. There’s no doubt about it. You know, it just is.11
The Donaldsons are trying to find another facility that will perform the kidney transplant for Tanner.
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Click here to view References:2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Jarvis J. Cleveland Clinic COVID-19 vaccination policy prevents dad from donating kidney to 9-year-old son. News 5 Cleveland Apr. 5, 2022.
5 Giodano, A. Hospital Refuses Father-to-Son Kidney Transplant Over COVID Jab. The Epoch Times Apr. 5, 2022.
6 Jarvis J. Cleveland Clinic COVID-19 vaccination policy prevents dad from donating kidney to 9-year-old son. News 5 Cleveland Apr. 5, 2022.
7 Giodano, A. Hospital Refuses Father-to-Son Kidney Transplant Over COVID Jab. The Epoch Times Apr. 5, 2022.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Jarvis J. Cleveland Clinic COVID-19 vaccination policy prevents dad from donating kidney to 9-year-old son. News 5 Cleveland Apr. 5, 2022.
30 Responses
Lawsuit against the Cleveland Clinic !!
Another anti-health/humanity terrorist medical organization.
This is the most absurd thing I have ever read! I will never go to Cleveland Clinic after reading that Kidneys from Unvaccinated Dead Donors are Used But Unvaccinated Live Kidney Donors are Turned Away and this child is being refused life saving treatment. Children are not at risk for COVID and they know it! It is a game our gov’t and medical system is playing with our lives. Remdesivir is another detrimental medical procedure being forced on us. I hope the leaders will be held accountable for this injustice!
Could moving to Florida offer alternatives?
Putting the Cleveland clinic on the “Let’s go Brandon” list. Will stay away from the clowns that are still participating in the covidiocy circus. Cleveland clinic’s behavior does indicate that their research skills are not that sharp. And have a suspicion that they self-rated themselves as number one or whatever in the country to make the most $$$ ????
This is SICKENING & ASSININE. This is MURDEROUS ACTION ON THE PART OF THE CLINIC & DRS & they should all be sued & lose their licensing & accreditation.
Disgusting!
However, I do not want blood from a vaccinated person!!
I don’t discriminate vaccinated folks, but I agree I wouldn’t want a blood or organs from a vaccinated person. And yes it’s beyond disgusting. It’s so sad how the medical system has turned to be very biased and unethical based on vaccination status. Clinics must treat patients in spite of status, period. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard. I wish them the best luck in finding a different clinic. Maybe try Texas.
Cleveland Clinic= MEDICAL MAFIA
What happened to the hypocratic oath?? Just another way to depopulate.
Would the relative of a doctor also be denied? Doubt it. Just unbelievable!!
Damn them to hell!!!
I don’t want blood OR an organ from a vaccinated person. There is NO logic here. Utter madness!!
Evil people! This so called hospital should be ASHAMED! They will go down in history as evil!
I agree, the scare tactics are at best manipulative and controlling. They should all be held accountable for any negative ramifications that arise for this poor family. And no, I dont believe any doctors family would be denied. Ask the doctor if hes vaccinated see if he tells you the truth. Probably not. Just wrong on all levels. Jesus would not have denied the unnvaccinated.
The Cleveland Clinic non-doctors better hope we remain a mostly civil society. Sometimes I think we are headed for Hunger Games.
It’s not about saving lives or doing what’s best for the patient. It’s all about the money! They don’t want to get sued should a patient get the virus. Disgusting beyond belief!
What a world we live in. God bless the child and his family. I hope someone steps forward and helps him, maybe out of state or country.
Try UCSD in San Diego if your budget will allow. They are allowing our friend’s unvaccinated daughter to donate to her and she is also unvaccinated. I know how stressful this is my husband had to fight 7 years ago to not get the pneumonia vaccine prior to transplant. He did not get the vaccine and has never had pneumonia.
To honor the short life of this 9 year old child I will revoke my donor status.
I would hope he can receive his kidney at another hospital or out of the country.
Is this a violation of the hippocratic oath?
Sue them for millions of dollars!!! This is out right discrimination! They’re violating their Civil Rights Go to thehealthyamerican.org for help.
And the madness continues.
This totally breaks my heart. There is no more…….”Do No Harm”. Criminal to the highest level. I don’t know what I would do if this happened to my child. I hope these Parents know that there is a whole lot of Kind Humans behind them….and hopefully they find HONEST Doctors / Hospital to do the Right thing for the family.
We live in a Fallen World and its sad to say but at the Present Moment, Satan and the Darkness that follows him are Here Now in Full Fury! They are at work in Evil, Godless People everywhere!!! HOWEVER……. With JESUS, Satan is ALREADY DEFEATED!!! Call, no Cry out to JESUS for His Ultimate Justice and Unfailing Love, and His Mercies are New Every Day! Cry out to JESUS The Donaldson Family and Every True Blood Bought Believer that is Reading this…… AND Together We Can Petition Our Mighty God to Move in the Direction of Mercy and Healing for Little Tanner in JESUS MIGHTY NAME WE CRY OUT TO YOU LORD…. To Right this Utter Injustice and to SAVE TANNER’S LIFE. AMEN-
WHERE IS MY LAST COMMENT????? Your site says that Ive already commented, HOWEVER your site DOES NOT POST IT?????
This is pure EVIL!!!!! The fact that the medical profession is trying to force people to get vaccinated is very telling., there is something very wrong with the vaccine and its advocates. And does this clinic not know that vaccinated individuals can contract and pass on the virus? They are not considering the health and life of this boy and what his family are experiencing.
Illogical, immoral, unethical and discriminatory. How does it help this 9yo to get vaccinated if, by their own logic, he would be unlikely to mount an immune response were he to be exposed? How come it’s safe enough for him to live with his unvaccinated father but not receive his life-saving kidney? Where oh where did the longstanding scientific understanding of natural immunity go? The latest release of Pfizer documents state they knew their gene therapy vaccines offered no more protection than natural immunity for the original strain never mind any now. The Japanese-requested bio distribution study showing potential for spike protein to infect all organs is in the public domain for people to read. There is no excuse. I wouldn’t want a medical procedure from medics who clearly have no understanding of medicine, medical ethics or of the dangers posed to their patients by insisting on vaccinated donors only.
Their policy seems to suggest that it is ok to leave an unvaccinated boy to die from liver failure but not to risk his natural immunity waning for him to get covid. And it completely overlooks the growing mountain of data to show that the covid19 injections suppress the immune system (which would be in addition to immune-suppressing drugs they would administer). How does that protect him? Not to mention overlooking the known heart, blood and neurological risks from the injection itself which surely must be included in the risk/benefit analysis of any policy.
This is the most appalling forms of discrimination I have ever heard of. To withhold organ transplant over a vaccine, that is anything but and can compromise one’s immune system, is disgusting. Welcome to tyranny being pushed onto us through the health care industry.
I live in Cleveland area and have used CCF for years. They took a big left turn during covid, and really before then – its been coming. I only use CCF minimally because we have our medical through them bc my wife works there (but not for much longer!) when I heard about the transplant policy back in the fall, i canceled my colonoscopt appt in protest. A nurse called me to follow up why. I told her it was in protest of CCFs draconian policy. The nurse agreed with me. And i know several front line people on the inside at CCF that see what is going on. They are leaving the organization. Honestly i would not go there for anything important. Alls it is is a white-washed money grabbing death machine!
This is a good article. Useful but, sadly, it points out the illogical way of thinking that prevails in the general medical community. Please note that it is The Johns Hopkins University . . . not John Hopkins. Sorry to be such a nitpicker, but as a retired newspaper editor, this common error gets my goat.
*** The Johns Hopkins Institutions are named after a man named Johns Hopkins. In the ancestry of Johns Hopkins the person, there was a woman by the name of surname of Johns. Margaret Johns married into the Hopkins family and the name of one of their children was taken by combining the two family names – Johns Hopkins (the first). This Johns Hopkins was the grandfather of the philanthropist entrepreneur Johns Hopkins who founded the Johns Hopkins Institutions.
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-The-Johns-Hopkins-University-called-Johns-and-not-John?share=1