Surgeons refuse to back face transplants

Wednesday, 19 November 2003 12:00 AM

Medical experts have called on doctors not to carry out face transplants.

A report by the Royal College of Surgeons claims that it would be unwise to proceed with transplants because of the serious moral and ethical implications of the surgery.

Surgeons revealed this week they were now capable of performing face transplants due to advances in the use of anti-rejection drugs.

The technique would involve removing facial muscles and skin from a dead donor and placing them on a living person.

Doctors in the US and France are awaiting regulatory approval to carry out the operation, but UK surgeons have pledged not to carry out the groundbreaking surgery until the ethical issues surrounding the procedure have been publicly debated.

Professor Sir Peter Morris, RCS president, said: "We must also take into consideration the psychological impact on the recipient and on the donor family, and the considerable long-term risks of the need for lifetime immunosuppression drugs."

A public debate on the issues surrounding face transplants will be held at the new Dana Centre at London's Science Museum. The debate will feature Dr John Barker, a leading plastic surgeon from the University of Louisiana.

Dr Barker told the Today programme: "The first face transplant recipients will not necessarily look like the donor. Our research in human cadavers shows that transplanting the skin and underlying soft tissues from one individual onto the facial bony structure of another results in an appearance different from the donor and the recipient."

Many people suffering from facial disfigurements are opposed to the transplants, as they argue it is more important to change people's attitudes to disfigurements.

Tags: