the Victim er i men donor was merely BrainDead... so did they kill her after they cut off her face or what???
Posted on 12/15/2005 3:18:14 PM PST by neverdem
PARIS, Dec. 13 - It was a startling feat of medicine, the world's first partial face transplant.
But in the weeks since the groundbreaking surgery last month, the operation has taken a back seat to a very public argument over the ethics of the operation and the psychological health of the 38-year-old recipient.
The debate has pitted one doctor against another and sent tabloids in Britain into a frenzy. At least one member of the regulatory agency that approved the procedure, Dr. Emmanuel Hirsch, has called for an investigation into whether the surgeons rushed to be first, cutting corners to avoid having to address ethical concerns.
Meanwhile, doctors say that the carnival atmosphere is complicating the recovery of the woman, identified as Isabelle Dinoire, who received the new face.
"Clinically, she's excellent," Dr. Bernard Devauchelle, the surgeon who performed the transplant, said in his office in Amiens late Monday. But psychologically, he added, she is only "good enough," because of the intense media pressure she is under.
Among the most disturbing aspects of the debate are conflicting reports from doctors about whether the transplant was the result of two suicide attempts, one successful by the donor, and one failed by the recipient.
If Ms. Dinoire's disfigurement resulted from an attempted suicide, it would raise questions about her emotional stability and her ability to consent to such a risky operation.
Reports that the donor committed suicide also have implications for Ms. Dinoire's future, because if true, and if the transplant is successful, it would mean that for the rest of her life, she would see in the mirror the nose, mouth and chin of a woman who herself met a brutal end.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I wonder if heart transplant recipients have to deal with this garbage.
ONLY the NY Times could totally make a positive story negative!!!
For God's sake, this woman was doomed to a life of total facial disfigurement. thank God she was able to get some help. The egos of the jealous doctors is ridiculous, but not surprising. In all bold new surgeries there are always a rush to be first. Same with heart surgeries in the past.
So?
What the hell is the problem here???? The woman couldn't keep food in her mouth to eat due to no lips and the face she received would have decomposed with the original owner. Why is there an ethical question at all?
"Why is there an ethical question at all?"
Agreed. The only thing I would say is if they rushed the job before they knew the best way to do it. But finding a donor for such things as skin tone may have been a big factor in the timing too.
Its an age of miracles. I hope they can help more people.
There are always the first patients with everything. Each time the techniques get better.
The Slimes would say it's night at 9 AM.
the Victim er i men donor was merely BrainDead... so did they kill her after they cut off her face or what???
Pretty much what other transplant patients have to go through as I understand it.
More than likely, just disconnect the ventilator that she was on.
thx... but why don't they ever say in the news what they did to her, that's my beef.
a very public argument over the ethics of the operation
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Sigh! It would be ethical; if it only included embryonic stem cells...
SARCASM ALERT - for my reactionary friends!
With the exception of single kidney donors and donors of a single lobe of their liver, virtually all organs donors are maintained on artificial life support until the organs are harvested. Then they just let nature take its course. http://www.transplantweek.org/members/Living/What.htm
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