Search

Is This Ethical?

Amberly Dong
Mar 13, 2016
2 min read

Monkey Head Transplant. Credit: telegraph.co

February 17, 2016 – Just a few weeks ago, there were breaking news that shocked many people around the world: during an experiment, a monkey’s head was successfully transplanted onto another monkey!

This idea came from a team of researchers who plan on doing the first human head transplant surgery in 2017. They even have a volunteer, Valery Spiridonov, a Russian man with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.

I think head transplant surgery might be a great idea, as it allows people who have certain diseases live more normal lives. However, it leads to an ethical question: where will the transplanted head come from? Some might think that it would come from wrongful death, assassination and kidnapping. This could give the kidnappers a great way to make money---selling heads! For example, back to the monkey experiment, when the surgery for the monkey was done, everyone was excited that it would open up a whole new science world, but did anyone question where the new head had come from? Did it come from a healthy, live monkey? What if that were the case for human head transplants? This is not like a kidney transplant surgery, where if you donate one kidney, you would still have another one. Besides, what would be the implications of possessing a head (brain) other than your own? Would you still be yourself?

The origin of the head is not the only problem: money is another big problem. Many people, including me, think this surgery will mainly be performed in the upper class. This is because this surgery will require lots of time, labor and technology, which will increase the price of each surgery. This would allow certain companies to make profit out of head transplants. For example, companies might loan as much money as the patient would need, but dramatically raise the interest rate. The price of each surgery might be doubled, then, when it would come time for the patients to pay back the money. Desperate patients might have no choice but to put their entire families in debt.

Head transplant surgery could help many people live more normal, fulfilling lives, but is it ethical?

Imagine you are a judge in the Supreme Court of the United States. Your latest case is deciding whether head transplant surgery is constitutional and should be legal in the U.S. Would you allow it?

Related Social Studies Standards