ORGAN TRANSPLANTS How far dare we go? - Jeff E Zhorne - September 1985

Jeff E Zhorne

WHILE the anesthesia team battled to keep the patient's lungs working and his blood pressure steady, the surgeon skillfully guided his scalpel. The patient's punctuated vital signs hovered between life and death. Would his body turn against the newly transplanted organ? Medical advancements-combined with powerful drugs-mean a human being no longer needs to die when one of his vital organs dies. Today organ transplantation and artificial "spare parts" have become daily news events. The human heart, long held as the symbol of life, might now be polyurethane or consist of parts from another species, such as pigs or monkeys. These developments in medical science highlight new ethical and economic issues: Who will receive the new technology? Who will live, who will die and who will pay? - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library