A man who received a pig's heart last week in a revolutionary transplant procedure has a criminal record stemming from an assault 34 years ago in which he stabbed a young man.
Edward Shumaker spent two decades in a wheelchair, was paralyzed from the waist down, and had a stroke that left him with cognitive impairment before he died in 2007, according to his sister.
The transplant patient had a criminal record that was reported by the Washington Post. The debate about how patients are selected for medical care has been sparked by the revelations.
The patient, David Bennett Jr., 57, is being closely monitored at the University of Maryland Medical Center for signs that his body is rejecting a heart received from a genetically modified pig. Hospital officials said he was doing well on Thursday.
Mr. Shumaker was having a drink at a bar when he was attacked. Mr. Shumaker was stabbed in the back by Mr. Bennett.
The family was devastated by the assault. She said that it crushed her parents. It was just terrible.
According to court records obtained by The New York Times, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for carrying a concealed weapon, but was convicted of lesser charges of battery and carrying a concealed weapon. He was ordered to pay Mr. Shumaker a sum of money, but he did not.
Mr. Shumaker and his family were awarded $3.4 million in damages after they sued Mr. Bennett. Ms. Downey said that the family never received any money.
Ms. Downey said that the transplant gave Mr. Bennett life. My brother was never given a second chance. Ed had trouble for 19 years. No one deserves what he went through.
Mr. Bennett's doctors said that patients with troubling histories can still get cutting-edge medical procedures.
The University of Maryland Medical Center, where the transplant operation was performed, said in a statement that health care providers were committed to treating all patients.
The officials said that hospitals and health care organizations have a solemn obligation to provide life-saving care to every patient who comes through their doors.
Any other standard of care would set a dangerous precedent and would violate the ethical and moral values that underpin the obligation physicians and caregivers have to all patients in their care.
The image is.
Mr. Bennett will be in 2019.
David Bennett Jr., the son of Mr. Bennett, declined to comment on his father's criminal history.
He did not want to speak about his father's past. My intent is to focus on the surgery and my father's wish to contribute to the science and potentially save patient lives in the future.
Karen J. Maschke is a research scholar at the Hastings Center and editor of Ethics & Human Research.
She said that there is a longstanding standard in medical ethics that physicians don't pick and choose who they treat. She noted that the question has arisen in the context of people who are in jail and people who are not in the war.
If you picked and chose, where would you draw the line? Dr. Maschke asked.
Arthur Caplan argued that the outrage expressed on social media was not justified. He said that the transplant is the first of its kind and may fail.
He didn't take a human organ from anyone. The guy got a pig heart.
The pig that provided the heart for Mr. Bennett was genetically engineered.
The pig's genome had 10 modifications, including genes inactivated in order to reduce aggressive human rejection responses, and to prevent the heart from growing after it was implanted.
The porcine organs were made more tolerant to the human immune system with the help of human genes.
There is a shortage of organs for people with failing kidneys, hearts, lungs and other organs, and the hope is that the science of transplant organs from genetically altered animals will lead to a new era when patients will no longer die while waiting for a replacement heart or kidneys.
Susan C. Beachy was involved in research.
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