HOUSTON, TX – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a formal letter to Houston Methodist Hospital demanding clarification regarding its transplant policies, following allegations that the hospital may be denying organ transplants to patients who decline to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The letter, dated October 2, 2025, and sent via certified mail to Houston Methodist President and CEO Dr. Marc L. Boom, specifically references the hospital’s Kidney Transplant Program Evaluation and Waitlist Clinical Practice Guideline. The policy, cited from a July 24, 2025 post on X, states that “[t]he kidney transplant will be postponed until the recipient receives the Covid-19 vaccine” and that patients vaccinated elsewhere “must provide valid documentation.”
Attorney General Paxton stated that such a policy, if still in effect, would violate Texas Health and Safety Code Section 161.474. That law, which became effective September 1, 2025, prohibits healthcare providers from denying organ transplants, related medical services, referrals, or placement on a transplant waitlist solely based on a patient’s decision to receive or not receive a COVID-19 or other vaccine.
“Texans looking to receive medical care should never be turned away due to arbitrary COVID-19 vaccine mandates imposed by woke medical providers,” said Paxton. “Vaccine mandates as a precondition for certain life-saving treatments may not only violate new state laws that became effective on September 1, but they also violate human dignity and run contrary to foundational principles of medical ethics.”
In the letter, the Office of the Attorney General directed Houston Methodist to provide, within 14 days, a written explanation detailing whether the cited transplant policy remains in effect and outlining the steps taken to comply with the new state law. Failure to respond will result in a formal investigation.
The letter was signed by Amy Snow Hilton, Chief of the Healthcare Program Enforcement Division, and Assistant Attorney General Andrea Cohen Haim. The Office of the Attorney General emphasized that any policy mandating vaccination or penalizing transplant candidates for their vaccination status is in direct conflict with Texas law.
