Traditional Wisdom

The Promise of Organ Transplants

Save
The Promise of Organ Transplants
A reconstruction of Dr. Barnard's first human heart transplantation in December 1967, in this file photo.Wikimedia Commons
Peter Weiss
Updated:

On Dec. 3, 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant in Groote Schuur Hospital, Capetown, South Africa. The patient, Louis Washkansky, was terminally ill from heart failure. This was a last-ditch effort to save his life.

The new heart, tragically, came from a 25-year-old woman, Denise Darvall, who was fatally injured in a car accident.

Peter Weiss
Peter Weiss
MD
Dr Peter Weiss is a nationally known physician and healthcare thought leader who has advised CEO’s, and political leaders on current and future healthcare trends affecting our country. He was a national health care advisor for senator John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign and was an Assistant Clinical Professor of OB/GYN at UCLA School of Medicine for thirty years. Dr Weiss is the co-founder of the Rodeo Drive Women's Health Center and remains in private practice. He also spends part of his time writing and lecturing on healthcare in America.
Related Topics