Ethics Of Face Surgery Questioned

Doctor Says Face Transplant Violated Advice Of French Ethics Panel

(CBS/AP) 
Privately, several people involved in those plans said they feared that if the French procedure does not go well or the ethics of it become an issue, it might damage confidence in their ability to do such an operation under better circumstances with carefully selected patients.

In an interview at the Cleveland Clinic in July, surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow stressed the several years she had spent developing procedures and how carefully her team now is working to select potential candidates for the operation.

"I hope nobody will be frivolous or do things just for fame. We are almost over-cautious," she said at the time.

Another surgeon familiar with the French case sounded more optimistic despite the woman's horrific injuries, which he said were caused by her own dog.

"She still has her own eyes, which are a lot of a person's expression ... we'd expect she'd turn out to be a pleasant-looking girl," Dr. Earl Owen told the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.

Owen said he supervised the French surgeons as they practiced for the procedure. He said the woman will look more like herself than the donor, who he said was a woman.

"We expect the bone structure underneath to be a more powerful delineator of what the outcome will be physically than the skin and the nose and the lips," Owen told the Morning Herald.

Lantieri also said that while he had concerns, "I'm still very positive.

"Dubernard is a great surgeon. We have to wait now to see if it succeeds."