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‘Grave concerns’ over face transplant
THE world’s first full face transplant operation will take place at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead within months – despite “grave concerns” from experts at the Royal College of Surgeons.
Peter Butler, a consultant plastic surgeon who heads the UK face transplant team, found out yesterday (Wednesday) that the hospital’s research ethics committee had given him permission for four operations.
Around 30 patients have approached Mr Butler for the procedure, which involves transplanting skin, underlying fat and some blood vessels and nerves from a brain-dead donor onto severely disfigured faces.
But the decision was immediately condemned by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), which is bringing out a 50-page report on the issue in just over two weeks.
In a statement yesterday (Wednesday) the College said it still had “grave concerns” about face transplantation and had written to the Trust to express its concerns.
Sir Peter Morris, chairman of the RCS working party on the issue, said: “Our report looks at the technical side and especially the psychological and ethical effects of the procedure. We would have thought it would have made sense and reinforced their decision if they had waited and met all the requirements we have laid out.”
But Royal Free Hospital chief Andrew Way said the decision to give the go-ahead was taken after the most detailed scrutiny of the results of over 10 years’ research by Mr Butler’s team.
Mr Butler said: “This is a very new and important way of helping people with terrible facial injuries. We will continue to take infinite care to ensure the best results.”
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