Bionic Man

The NY Times is running an excellent article about James Quinn, the first recipient of an artificial heart. There are obviously ethical questions, and his wife says that she wishes he had never gotten the transplant: "He would have been better off dead. He wouldn't have suffered."

Mr. Quinn, though he suffered, made a tremendous leap of faith for the advancement of medical science. "That was my way of contributing, to put my name in the Book of Life, with Jesus Christ." Were any of the nine months that he had the heart fulfilling for him? Because without the heart, he wouldn't have had any suffering, but he wouldn't have had any good times either.

October 08, 2002 - 09:49 AM