First Face Transplant Done in America

In Cleveland, reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of specialists performed the first face face transplant done in America by replacing 80 percent of a disfigured woman's face by using the face of a female cadaver. Many details of the surgery have not been released but surgeons that do this usually transplant skin, facial nerves, muscles, and other deep tissue.

Skin is considered an organ and it still runs the risk of the body rejecting it, as with other organ transplants. Recipients of transplants have the risk of deadly complications, such as the new facial tissue attacking the recipient's body and the recipient's body attacking the bone marrow or the transplanted face to cause inflammation at the area of the new tissue. They also have to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives to prevent the body rejecting the organ. This raises the risk of cancer and other diseases.

This is the fourth one done worldwide. Two have been done in France and one was done in China. The first one was a partial face transplant done in France in 2005 on a woman who had been mauled by her dog and received a new nose, chin, and lips from a brain-dead donor. Another was done in France on man disfigured by a genetic disease. One was done in China on a farmer that had been disfigured by being mauled by a bear.

Medicare Won’t Pay for Hospital Errors

It is reported that in a policy change, the Bush administration officials say that from now on Medicare will no longer pay the extra costs of treating preventable errors, injuries, and infections that happen in hospitals. That includes bedsores, pressure ulcers, injuries caused by falls, and infections resulting from the prolonged use of catheters in blood vessels or the bladder. They also plan not to pay for things like leaving a sponge or other object in a patient during surgery and giving a patient incompatible blood or blood products. Private insurers are thinking about making the same changes. It suppose to force hospitals to be more careful about the care of their patients and save millions of dollars.

A Cat Predicts Patient's Deaths

It is reported that in a Rhode Island nursing home there is a cat that seems to mysteriously know when a patient is going to die. The cat curls up to the patients during their final hours of life. He was observed in 25 cases and his accuracy led the staff to call the patient's family members once he curls up next to the patient. Usually the patient only lives for four hours after that.

The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a small kitten and raised in a third-floor dementia unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. The facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed that the cat would make his own rounds, like the doctors and nurses. He'd sniff and observe patients and then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. The doctors say that most of the patients are so ill that they don't even realize he's there.

The nursing home staff are okay with the cat being there because his warnings give families a better chance at saying goodbye to their loved ones.