(RightWing.org) – The family of a North Dakota man who needed a double lung transplant is blaming vaping for his illness. The 22-year-old was diagnosed with a serious chest infection last October. When he failed to recover, doctors decided to replace both his lungs. Relatives and medical professionals are making various claims about the effects of his vaping habits.
In October 2023, Jackson Allard of Fargo, ND, went to the hospital complaining of a stomach ache. However, when medics examined him they realized his oxygen levels were low, and admitted him. He was diagnosed with the flu and double pneumonia; the flu virus is one of the most common causes of pneumonia. Despite being hospitalized, Allard’s condition continued to decline, and he was transferred to the ICU at the University of Minnesota. By the end of the year, doctors had decided he needed a double lung transplant, which was carried out on January 1.
Allard’s grandmother, Doreen Hurlburt, says he had started vaping when he was 16 or 17 but had been using e-cigarettes more heavily recently. She claimed, “He had no idea how bad it was for him.” In fact, nobody else has any idea either. Scientific opinion is heavily split on the issue, with some doctors linking vaping to a wide range of diseases and others arguing that it has no proven health risks and is certainly much safer than smoking.
Only two previous lung transplant cases have been linked to vaping, and in one of those the patient was also a smoker. In the other case, doctors refused to say WHAT the 17-year-old patient had been vaping, triggering speculation that it could have been black-market cannabis contaminated with polyethylene glycol, which can cause serious lung damage.
Allard is now “getting stronger every day” and is hoping to start rehab soon. He’s now off life support for the first time in weeks, and his family believes he’ll make a full recovery.
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