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GEORGE E. SHAMBAUGH, JR., MD

Arch Otolaryngol. 1968;87(5):453-455.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

THE RECENT, highly publicized, heart transplant operations have raised two quite different ethical problems. One relates to a moral and ethical dilemma inherent in transplanting a vital organ from a living but presumably doomed person to a second living person whose survival presumably depends upon a new "spare part." The word "presumably" is used advisedly for both the donor and the recipient, for all physicians have encountered cases that seemed hopeless: all therapeutic measures have been undertaken and failed; the patient's life hangs by a thread and recovery seems impossible. Ultimately the patient surprises everyone, rallies and returns to life and comparative health. The problem for the physician is when should he abandon all efforts to save a patient's life so that his heart or other vital organ can be removed for transplantation? A fundamental canon of medical ethics has been primum non nocera: first of all, do no harm. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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