Insurance Paperwork Dispute Blocks Heart Transplant Listing, Patient’s Condition Rapidly Worsens

Keck Medicine Patient On heart Pump Faces Paperwork Delays, Seeks Urgent heart transplant

USA: Rhett Pasqual, 53, remains on a mechanical heart pump at Keck Medicine of USC as he fights for a lifesaving heart transplant after a months-long decline. Initially diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and then stricken by a stroke, Pasqual’s heart has now failed and medical devices are sustaining him while he awaits placement on the transplant list.

Pasqual’s family says the hospital first flagged financial barriers to listing despite the patient having full insurance coverage, and weeks of paperwork have left his team scrambling. The delays have taken a physical toll; clinicians recently determined he was too weak to be listed, a second denial that came after roughly a month in hospital care and prompted urgent family appeals.

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to cover the deductible and other out-of-pocket costs tied to transplant evaluation and surgery while Pasqual’s relatives push to resolve the insurance dispute. The family stresses his determination and faith as he endures dialysis and mechanical circulatory support, hoping to regain strength so transplantation can proceed.

Medical teams and the family say time is critical as they work to move Pasqual back onto the active transplant list. The case highlights how administrative and financial hurdles can intersect with clinical urgency for patients in need of organ transplantation and the fragile timelines that govern access to donor organs.

Video originally published on 2026-03-26 13:00:48