Ann Arbor, Michigan – Los Barranco needs a new kidney. Katie Shire needs a new heart.
Both were on Michigan Medicine’s waiting list for organ transplants in 2021.
The only problem is that neither of them received the COVID-19 vaccine because of their Catholic faith. The two accused Michigan Medicine of removing them from the waiting list because hospital policy in December 2021 required the vaccine to remain on the list.
Barranco and Shier filed state and federal lawsuits last year to get back on the list, though it’s unclear how the two knew each other. removed in the meantime.
Court records show that the university notified the Michigan Court of Claims on May 1 that it had changed its vaccination policy for transplant waiting lists. Mary Masson, a spokeswoman for Michigan Medicine, confirmed the change, but did not address Barranco and Shire’s accusations.
“While this lawsuit is still pending, as the COVID-19 public health emergency has been lifted and the epidemiological situation is changing, it is important to consider COVID-19 before entering the waiting list for potential adult solid organ transplant recipients. 19 vaccinations are no longer required by Michigan State Medicine, Michigan,” Masson said in a statement.
It’s unclear how the policy change will affect future litigation, and it’s also unclear if Barranco and Shire will return to the transplant waiting list.A message left for attorney David Peters was not returned. .
The first lawsuit was filed in the Court of Claims on June 23 last year, accusing Michigan Medicine of violating the religious freedoms of Barranco and Shire. Judge Brock Swartzle dismissed portions of the state action as not within his jurisdiction in a March 6 judgment.
Swartzle also found that it was not clear that Michigan Medicine violated the state’s Elliott-Larsen civil rights law and discriminated against plaintiffs’ religious beliefs.
“Plaintiff makes no specific allegations that Defendant requested vaccination. because They have certain religious views,” Swartzle wrote in his decision. “They make no coherent and appealable allegations of willful discrimination or ill-treatment.”
Barranco and Shier declined the vaccine because of their Catholic beliefs against using aborted fetal cells in medical research, the complaint says. Some of his COVID-19 vaccines were developed using historical fetal cell lines, not from aborted fetuses, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
According to a March 20 complaint in U.S. District Court in Detroit, “After refusing a COVID-19 vaccine based on a genuine religious belief, the plaintiff was removed from the transplant list because of his beliefs and religious practices. It was deleted”.
In a federal lawsuit filed on March 20, Barranco and Shire accused Michigan Medicine of violating federal civil rights law and First Amendment rights. Further, they allege, the university violated its Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and equal protection.
“Such removal from the transplant list without a hearing or adjudication of any kind regarding the plaintiff’s particular medical and psychiatric needs constitutes a denial of due process,” the federal complaint states. .
“Some individuals on the transplant list who requested medical waivers were granted waivers and remained on the transplant list, while individuals with religious objections, like the plaintiffs, were denied and removed from the transplant list. ’” the complaint continues.
State and federal lawsuits are still ongoing, according to court records. The university has until Thursday, May 11, to respond to the federal lawsuit, according to federal records.
The Michigan Court of Claims final entry acknowledges that Michigan Medicine’s COVID-19 vaccine policy has changed.
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