And well, the questions keep on coming. Some experts have raised ethical concerns regarding these kinds of surgeries in general. Is it cosmetic, considering the fact that this is not a lethal defect? Given the extremely high risk of rejection, how do doctors justify the need to operate? Do concerns regarding the social ostracism of the severely disfigured experience on a day-to-day basis outweigh the medical risks? There are clear psychological implications. Indeed, the patient underwent intense questioning and mental diagnosis designed to weigh the potential effects of living with a cadaver's face.
Related: Cheek implants a growing appeal for women young and old.
The debate isn't brand spanking new. After all, high falutin' medical ethics committees in England and France once ruled that the surgery risks outweighed the benefits. But that was a few years ago, and obviously technology has advanced, and well, in some ways you have to wonder if the prevalence and social acceptance of plastic surgery doesn't play some role here.
Not to state the obvious, but human reactions to disfigurement are innate--the recent transplant recipient claimed that children cried when they saw her--so it's easy to understand how a patient would be absolutely desperate to achieve some degree of normalcy no matter what the cost. In some ways, social acceptance, or "fitting in," is something to be achieved at all costs, to the vast majority of us anyway. That's just human nature. But what if she had died as a result of the insanely complicated 23-hour procedure? (Doctors took different shifts so they could rest in between.) While the medical practitioners involved are currently being lauded for their success, would charges have been leveled against them had they failed?
I honestly believe it was the right thing to do. Certainly in this situation, where the subject could not eat or breathe properly, there were legitimate reasons to operate. But going forward, how will these decisions be made? Where will the line be drawn? Personally, I would like to have the option, and I'm happy and relieved for this woman and hope that the result is that her life is vastly improved. That's where I stand anyway. But it's not a black and white issue, now is it?
Of course, I have one more question: How do you feel about it?
For more news in the world of plastic surgery, check out the Scalpel News section over at allure.com.
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