ABSTRACT
Transplantation continues to push the frontiers of medicine into domains that summon forth troublesome ethical questions. Looming on the frontier today is human facial transplantation. The field of transplantation surgery has always pushed the boundaries of medicine forward. In doing so it has repeatedly raised unprecedented ethical questions. Today, as teams around the world consider performing a human facial transplantation, the frontiers of medical ethics are again being tested. When considering facial transplantation research, the ethical concerns must be based on the scientific, surgical, psychological, and social dimensions of the procedure and its aftermath. Facial disfigurement can result from trauma, extirpation of tumors, major burns, severe infections, or congenital birth defects. The immunosuppression-related risks in facial transplantation are also expected to be the same as those experienced by the solid organ and hand transplant recipients, who receive the same drug regimens.
