Studying the quality of life after organ transplantation: research problems and solutions

Studies assessing the quality of life after organ transplantation proliferated in the 1980s after improved immunosuppression led to higher survival rates. Despite severe critiques of the methods employed in this research, as well as more general criticisms of the financial motives behind it, medical journals have continued to publish reports which almost uniformly conclude that transplant recipients enjoy a high quality of life. This paper revisits the critiques, asks why they have had so little impact, and suggests a new approach.