Response to xenograft technology: a new frontier in medicine. Xenograft technology: proceed with caution

Many Americans do not deal well with aging or preparing for death as a natural part of life. One indication of this is that only about 15% of the population have completed advance directives. Growing old gracefully and dying with dignity are not foremost considerations in our culture. We ask our government and private industry to spend billions of health care dollars to prolong our lives at all costs. Organ xenotransplantation has the potential of being a very complex, high tech, and expensive way of saving lives from the jaws of death--for a few more months or years. Derenge and Bartucci (1999) pointedly ask, "...should we instead be providing support and comfort to those who are dying and not intervene?" (p. 432). Finally, Dr. Margaret Somerville from the McGill Centre of Medicine, Ethics, and Law reminds us of the importance of addressing ethical issues early during the research process. Somerville (1998) states, "It is not enough to do ethics as an add-on at the end of having done your science." Science, medicine, and ethics, in the case of xenotransplantation, must progress together. Leaders in social policy should address the issues presented here before xenotransplantation is undertaken in the United States.