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 man’s second facial transplant earlier this month, Medical Ethicist Art Caplan says we’ve 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 you’re 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 I’m sure there are a lot of people who hadn’t 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 people’s lives, even while preserving them.
“The drugs that we give you, immunosuppressive drugs, they’re very toxic, they do damage to your kidneys, maybe to the transplanted organ — they shorten your life,” Caplan said. “People think 'Well, I’m going to die, I need that heart or liver.' When it comes to the face, or penis or limbs, you’re not going to die, and you’re shortening your life to get an improved quality of life. I support that, but there are those who would say, boy, I’m not sure that’s ethical.”
Arthur Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty professor of bioethics and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University's Langone Medical Center.
