Taiwan-born physician Andrew Lee (李為平) is scheduled to head a three-man team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, that is to conduct the first penile transplant surgeries in the US for soldiers wounded in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has given permission for the team to conduct experimental surgery on 60 veterans within the year, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Monday.
Lee, chairman of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Johns Hopkins, immigrated with his family to the US when he was 15 years old.
He established his authority in limb transplants in 2013 after surgically transplanting two arms for a veteran who had been wounded in the second Iraq War.
The proposed 60 surgeries are to be restricted to men who have suffered genitourinary injuries in combat, the hospital said.
The school will monitor the results and decide whether the operation procedures could become standard for such surgeries in the future, the NYT said.
The transplant should, over a matter of months, restore urinary function, sensation and even the ability to have sex, the university said.
Lee said it was a “realistic goal” for those who had undergone the transplant to father children, with the newspaper reporting that it would be their own sperm and not that of the donors, provided the recipient’s testes were intact prior to the surgery.
Jeffrey Kahn, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins, said it was essential for families of organ donors to be asked for specific permission.
“It is not assumed that people willing to donate kidneys or livers will also consent to having their loved one’s genitals removed,” the NYT quoted Kahn saying, adding the surgeons want a relatively young donor to increase the odds that the transplanted organ will function sexually.
Medical journal data show only two reports of penis transplants: one in China in 2006, which was not successful, and one in South Africa last year, which was.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry
RSS