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The Technology and Ethics of Face Transplants A French woman says she is feeling well after doctors transplanted the mouth, lips and chin of a brain-dead organ donor onto her face last month. Physicians performed the procedure to change her appearance -- rather than save her life -- raising ethical and technical questions about how and when such a transplant should be done.

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The Technology and Ethics of Face Transplants

Heard on Talk of the Nation

The Technology and Ethics of Face Transplants

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A French woman says she is feeling well after doctors transplanted the mouth, lips and chin of a brain-dead organ donor onto her face last month. The operation was to change her appearance, rather than save her life. The procedure has raised ethical and technical questions about how and when such a transplant should be done.

Guest:

Dr. L. Scott Levin, chief, plastic and reconstructive surgery at Duke University Medical Center