The first transplant of a genetically modified pig heart into a man with heart disease is now facing an ethical debate.
The patient who received the organ stabbed a person seven times 33 years ago and that is why the victim's family questions whether he was worthy of this historic operation.
Leslie Shumaker Downey received a message from her daughter on Monday with a link to a news story about the intervention.
When he read the patient's name, he froze.
It was David Bennett, the man who
had attacked his brother Edward Shumaker
in 1988, leaving him paralyzed, according to The Washington Post.
Since then, and for 19 years of his life, Shumaker used a wheelchair until he had a heart attack in 2005. He died two years later, days before his 41st birthday.
Dr. Bartley Griffith takes a selfie with patient David Bennett in January 2022 in Baltimore.
Bartley Griffith/AP
Bennett was sentenced to 10 years in prison and got out of jail in 1994 to "go on and have a good life," Leslie Shumaker told the outlet.
"And now he has a second chance, with a new heart. But in my opinion, I wish it had gone to
a deserving recipient
," he said.
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In the United States, more than 106,000 people are on the national waiting list for an organ transplant;
of these, about 17 die without having received the required organ.
"The key principle of medicine is to treat any sick person, regardless of who they are," said Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University.
A system that does not separate saints from sinners
"[We] do not dedicate ourselves to separating
saints from sinners
. Crime is a legal issue," he added.
In the United States, at the local level, hospitals are given wide discretion in deciding which people are eligible to be added to the national waiting list.
It is early to know if this man will be able to live with the heart of a pig.
Your doctor explains why
Jan. 12, 202202:02
"We have a legal system designed to determine just redress for crimes," said Scott Halpern, a professor of medical ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
"And we have a health system that pretends to provide care
without taking into account the character
or the personal history of the people."
In a statement, officials at Baltimore Hospital, where the transplant took place, said: "This patient came to us in dire need and a decision was made about his eligibility for transplant based solely on his medical history. doctor".
A history of denials
David Bennett Jr., the son of the transplant patient and a physical therapist in North Carolina, told The Washington Post that several hospitals had refused to put his father on the waiting list because he had not followed doctors' orders, she did not take her medications or attend follow-up visits.
In October 2021, Bennett began experiencing symptoms of heart failure: swelling in his legs, fatigue, and shortness of breath.
So he proposed to his son that, when he dies, he will donate his organs.
But Bennett Jr. instead proposed
a pig heart transplant.
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The son wasn't sure if his father understood what it was about, until his father replied, "Am I going to
oink?
On New Year's Eve, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Bennett clearance for this historic emergency procedure.