Spare Parts: Organ Replacement in American Society (Paperback)

by Renee C. Fox (Author), Judith P. Swazey (Author) "At the end of the 1970s and early 1980s transplanters exuberantly hailed the "advent" of a new immunosuppressive drug, cyclosporine..." (more)
Key Phrases: artificial heart experiment, artificial heart team, artificial heart story, Barney Clark, University of Utah, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"It is refreshing to see a book that cuts through the perfervid media attention that often surrounds organ transplantation and challenges us to assess the practice more realistically. They discuss developments in immunosuppressive drugs, the psychological complexities of organs as gifts, the emergence of cluster or multiorgan transplants, the use of living related and nonrelated donors, and market efforts to increase organ supply. The strength of this part of the book is its moving reminder of the emotional complexity of the giving and receiving of organs and of how great technological promises are usually followed by dashed hopes, which they illustrate with the shifting fortunes of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine, key to the 1980s increase in transplantation. In the end, Fox and Swazey provide valuable insights into the abuses that can occur in the process of technological innovation and identify many of the problematics of solid-organ transplantation." --Science

"Spare Parts offers a critical and compelling account of US medicine's ongoing fascination with organ replacement. In Spare Parts, Fax and Swazey deliver an engrossing account of medicine's preoccupation with organ replacement through a combination of insightful observations, lively argumentation, and moving personal accounts." -- AMA

"The authors' perspective highlights the personal and societal problems engendered by these immensely difficult, risky, costly procedures. This fascinating book has messages for all of us." --The Pharos

"A mine of data and background information. The authors go behind the scenes and show what is really happening behind the headlines. . . . A fascinating revelation." --Bioethics

"Fox and Swazey are the most knowledgeable and experienced analysts of the development of organ transplantation. They tell the inside sory of [the Jarvik-7 artificial heart] better than it has ever been told before." --Annals of Internal Medicine

"Provides a unique view of the world of transplantation. . . . a fascinating behind-the-scenes view." --Paul J. Brooks, American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy

"An encyclopedic source....This is an important book which warrants close study and thought by all those who share an in-depth or even cursory interest in the area of replacement therapy or organ transplantation." --vor Lensworth Livingston (Howard University), Social Science and Medicine, UK

"Can be profitably read by those looking for a concise source of details about recent trends in transplantation. Readers will find many useful references and quotations, as well as interview materials gathered by the authors that are not available elsewhere....A wealth of details and analysis." --Peter A. Ubel, MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, The Journal of Clinical Ethics

"A historical, sociological, and moral essay on organ replacement in American society....But this is more than just an academic study. Through its carefully grounded analysis, [it] is a powerful indictment of recent trends in American biomedicine and American culture....Because of their unique access to the physicians and patients involved in these biomedical events, Fox and Swazey's study becomes a narrative-...whose interrelatedness to American culture is constantly reiterated. This style of presentation allows us to be drawn into the history, and into the stories of medical heroism and medical defeat. To the authors' great credit, they include many voices: doctors, patients, organ donors and recipients, families, and even poets....Spare Parts draws together a truly remarkable array of interdisciplinary information, sources, materials, and perspectives." --Gail Henderson, University of North Carolina at Chape Hill, American Journal of Sociology

"Excellent--very current information, easy, enjoyable to read."--Lydia D. Schafer, PhD

Product Description
The developments that have occurred in the field of organ transplantation during the 1980s and early 1990s, and the simultaneous rise and fall of the Jarvik-7 artificial heart are the subject of this vividly written and absorbing new volume. In Spare Parts, fascinating, interconnected stories of organ transplantation and the artificial heart are recounted in an interpretive framework that explores the vision of the "replaceable body." Themes of uncertainty, gift exchange, and the allocation of scarce material and non-material resources underscore a discussion that openly examines the escalating ardor about the goodness of repairing and remaking people with transplanted organs. Likewise, the stories open questions of life and death, identity, and solidarity. This important book offers insights into the symbolic and anthropomorphic meanings associated with the human body and its organs, and into the ways that medical professionals come to terms with the concomitant aspects of transferring vital body parts. Both artificial and donor organs, as well as the process of transplantation, are the subject of a thoughtful discussion which touches on the medical myths and rituals that they generate. Chronologically, Spare Parts begins where the authors' previous book, The Courage to Fail, leaves off. More than a sequel, however, this work reflects their increasingly troubled and critical reactions to the expansion of organ replacement. Likely to be controversial, this book is must reading for bioethicists, medical sociologists and anthropologists, health-care lawyers, planners and administrators, nurses and physicians, medical journalists and science writers, and concerned lay readers.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195076508
• ISBN-13: 978-0195076509
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #375,089 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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