Despite having a criminal record resulting from an assault 34 years ago, a sick Maryland man who got a pig’s heart last week in a groundbreaking transplant surgery has no plans to go public with his new heart.
In order to determine if the patient’s body is rejecting a heart transplanted from a genetically engineered pig, the University of Maryland Medical Center is intensively monitoring him. He is 57 years old and had a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig. According to hospital authorities, he was still in good health on Thursday.
The attack happened on April 30, 1988, when Mr. Shumaker, then 22 years old, was enjoying a drink at a pub and conversing with Mr. Bennett’s wife, when the incident occurred. Mr. Bennett repeatedly stabbed Mr. Shumaker in the back in what seemed to be a furious rage on his part.
He was found guilty on lower counts of violence and carrying a hidden weapon and sentenced to ten years in prison after being convicted on the lesser charges. Additionally, Mr. Shumaker was ordered to pay Mr. Downey $29,824 in restitution, but Ms. Downey said that he did not comply with the order.
Mr. Shumaker and his family sued Mr. Bennett in an effort to recoup the enormous medical expenses they had incurred. According to court documents, they were granted $3.4 million in damages. Ms. Downey said that the family never got any financial assistance.
An official statement from officials at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where the transplant procedure was carried out, stated health care personnel were dedicated to treating all patients, regardless of their backgrounds or life situations.
Mr. Bennett Srson, .’s David Bennett Jr., who was a child at the time of the attack, refused to comment on his father’s criminal history via the medical facility. Mr. Bennett Srson, .’s David Bennett Jr.
She said that the subject has arisen in the context of detained individuals and foes in war, as well as more recently in the context of persons who have Covid and have chosen not to be vaccinated.
According to Arthur Caplan, professor of bioethics at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, the fury directed towards Mr. Bennett Sr. on social media is unjustified. Mr. Bennett Sr. is the father of three children. Not only is this the first transplant of its sort, but it is also very experimental, and it is possible that it may fail, according to him.
The pig’s genome had been modified in ten ways, including the deletion of genes in order to diminish severe human rejection reactions and the prevention of the heart from continuing to expand after it was implanted.
Currently, there is a severe shortage of organs for people who have failing kidneys, heart attacks, lung cancer and other organ failure. It is hoped that perfecting the science of transplanting organs from genetically altered animals will herald the beginning of a new era when patients will no longer die while waiting for a replacement kidney or heart.
