First Face Transplant

mriya3 writes to tell us the BBC is reporting that surgeons in France have performed the first ever face transplant. The medical team, led by Jean-Michel Dubernard, transplanted live tissue to a 36-year old woman whose face had been destroyed by a dog. From the article: "It has been technically possible to carry out such a transplant for some years, with teams in the US, the UK and France researching the procedure. [...] But the ethical concerns of a face transplant, and the psychological impact to the patient of looking different has held teams back."

Comments

Re:Ethical concerns?

[dasunt]

Technically, face transplants are not medically necessary. The surgery would definitely make the person feel better, but it is not life-saving such as heart, liver, lung, or kidney transplants. The side effects of immunosuppresants are still quite severe and perhaps life-threatening, since the immune system is getting shut down for the life of the patient. The question is whether a doctor can allow someone to take these risks for a non-life-saving procedure

That is a good point, but I think that you are ignoring the social disadvantage of facial disfiguration.

Social disadvantages can result in poor job opportunities. It can also result in depression. Both low-paying jobs and social isolation influence physical health.

OTOH, I'm not sure why they didn't reconstruct her face with her own skin, but I didn't RTFA.

Re:Thus come all of the stupid "Face/Off" replies.

[funkyfreshcoderdude]

Personally I was waiting for the "All your face belong to us" posts.