Post by Shadow on Dec 5, 2005 8:28:28 GMT -5
Guardian Unlimited
Ethics professor attacks 'lack of consultation'
· Donor and recipient had both attempted suicide
Kim Willsher in Paris
Monday December 5, 2005
The Guardian
New questions were raised yesterday over France's pioneering face transplant operation when a leading medical ethics professor said the surgery had been conducted with undue haste, as it emerged that both the donor and the recipient of the skin graft had attempted suicide.
The medical team that carried out the 15-hour operation eight days ago was accused of ignoring ethical questions in the bid to be first, and of using a rival doctor's technique. The saga took a further twist when it became clear that the donor and the 38-year-old transplant patient had been involved in suicide attempts.
Transplant patient Isabelle Dinoire, from Valenciennes, north of Amiens, was reported to have overdosed on pills last May following a row with one of her two daughters. As she lay unconscious, part of her nose, her mouth and chin were bitten off by her Labrador-cross dog, Tania.
The donor, whose name has not been released, was said to have been of a similar age and from the same area as Ms Dinoire. She had hanged herself. Permission for the transplant was given by her family after she was declared brain dead.
Ethics professor attacks 'lack of consultation'
· Donor and recipient had both attempted suicide
Kim Willsher in Paris
Monday December 5, 2005
The Guardian
New questions were raised yesterday over France's pioneering face transplant operation when a leading medical ethics professor said the surgery had been conducted with undue haste, as it emerged that both the donor and the recipient of the skin graft had attempted suicide.
The medical team that carried out the 15-hour operation eight days ago was accused of ignoring ethical questions in the bid to be first, and of using a rival doctor's technique. The saga took a further twist when it became clear that the donor and the 38-year-old transplant patient had been involved in suicide attempts.
Transplant patient Isabelle Dinoire, from Valenciennes, north of Amiens, was reported to have overdosed on pills last May following a row with one of her two daughters. As she lay unconscious, part of her nose, her mouth and chin were bitten off by her Labrador-cross dog, Tania.
The donor, whose name has not been released, was said to have been of a similar age and from the same area as Ms Dinoire. She had hanged herself. Permission for the transplant was given by her family after she was declared brain dead.