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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 OPINION 
3

Face Transplant Risks Life in Pursuit of Social Approval

Why change the face when we could change our behaviors?

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(Newser) – A face transplant completed at a Cleveland clinic may be a medical triumph, but, William Saletan wonders on Slate, does the social necessity outweigh the physical risk? Severe facial damage affected the woman’s physical functions, but surgeons also argue that “social functions” such as communication are equally essential. This logic creates a dangerous precedent because it means taking social humiliations more seriously than life.

Social suffering is real suffering, yet by turning to surgical solutions, we change the patient when we should be changing societal behaviors. The patient may have consented freely, but is a choice to escape humiliation really a free choice? “I hope her new face ends her suffering,” Saletan concludes. “I just don’t want to end up killing her—and calling that her choice—because we made her life hell.”

Dr. Maria Siemionow and Dr. Daniel Alam perform a near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Surgeon Siemionow replaced 80 percent of the patient's face with that of a deceased female donor.
Dr. Maria Siemionow and Dr. Daniel Alam perform a near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic. Surgeon Siemionow replaced 80 percent of the patient's face with that of a deceased female donor.   (AP Photo/Cleveland Clinic)
Doctors who participated in the nation's first near-total face transplant watch an animation of the procedure at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic.
Doctors who participated in the nation's first near-total face transplant watch an animation of the procedure at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic.   (AP Photo)
Dr. Maria Siemionow at the Cleveland Clinic. Siemionow led the surgery in which doctors replaced nearly all of the woman's face, 80 percent, with that of a donated female cadaver.
Dr. Maria Siemionow at the Cleveland Clinic. Siemionow led the surgery in which doctors replaced nearly all of the woman's face, 80 percent, with that of a donated female cadaver.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Doctors perform a near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic.
Doctors perform a near-total face transplant at the Cleveland Clinic.   (Cleveland Clinic)
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We're drifting from a standard of necessity rooted in you to a standard —'socially crippled'—that's dictated by others. And instead of changing them, we're changing and endangering you. - William Saletan

Yes, suffering cries out for relief. But when the suffering is social and the relief is surgical, where are we going? - William Saletan

Having a normal face is socially necessary, they argue, not just because of what your face does, but because of how it looks. Appearance alone can be grounds for a potentially lethal procedure. - William Saletan

I realize it makes ethical sense to offer a form of surgery that might kill the patient, because the suffering of the afflicted is so great that they are willing to risk death.
- Art Caplan, ethicist

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
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3 comments
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Nagual
Dec 20, 08 2:29 PM CST
As inherent social animals, what kind of life is one with poor or nonexistent social contact? Not one I would venture to live.. that I know. Reply
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Zebraone
Dec 21, 08 10:14 PM CST
Who paid for this abomination of surgical stupidity?~~~~~ i'll bet her smile was put on crooked!!~~~ LOL Reply
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riffran
Dec 22, 08 6:37 AM CST
what I wonder, is how will they handle rejection syndrome, and how long will it last, and what she will look like Reply
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