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Showing Original Post only (View all)As Transplants Expand To Faces And Genitals, Ethical Questions Arise [View all]
A badly-injured veteran who lost his genitalia after being hit by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan is the recipient of the first-ever transplant of a penis and a scrotum, according to doctors at Johns Hopkins University.
Between this groundbreaking surgery and a mans second facial transplant earlier this month, Medical Ethicist Art Caplan says weve entered into an unprecedented realm of transplant surgery, with life-changing operations that come with a bundle of ethical qualms regarding the risk, cost, long-term effectiveness and rarity of such procedures.
We have a procedure in place that says that when somebody dies, if youre going to use their face, their penis, their uterus [or] their limb, then you need permission from the family and you try to get someone to sign a donor card but Im sure there are a lot of people who hadnt thought about that aspect of organ donations, Caplan told Boston Public Radio Wednesday. You think kidneys, and liver and heart
but not other parts. This new world is raising some questions about giving people more choices.
Caplan adds that organ transplants require toxic drugs that impact other body parts and eventually shorten peoples lives, even while preserving them.
Read more: https://news.wgbh.org/2018/04/25/boston-public-radio-podcast/transplants-expand-faces-and-genitals-ethical-questions-arise