Man Wants Second Hand Transplant

By JEAN PERHILON
.c The Associated Press

 
LYON, France (AP) - A man who became the world's first hand transplant
recipient, then had it amputated at his own request, now says he wants
another hand.

Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard, who led the team that carried out the surgery,
said Clint Hallam recently sent an e-mail to one of his doctors asking for
another transplant.

Dubernard said Hallam had missed his chance, noting that French medical
authorities now only allow transplants considered vital, such as for a
patient who has lost both arms.

Hallam, 51, lost his right hand in a chain saw accident 17 years ago. In
1998, a team of surgeons in Lyon grafted a donor hand onto his forearm in an
operation that made medical history.

But Hallam infuriated his specialists by regularly breaking contact with them
and refusing to follow necessary drug treatment. He said his body had
rejected the hand and that he had become ``mentally detached from it.''

In February, the hand was amputated at his request.

Doctors said his failure to follow the correct drug treatment, including
intensive physiotherapy, led to complications and signs that his body was
rejecting the limb.

Psychologist Gabriel Bourloud said Hallam, his former patient, likely became
so used to living with one hand that he lacked the will to complete the
difficult and lengthy process of adapting to his new limb.

``Hallam was not motivated during his physiotherapy and did not take his
medicine, so his hand suffered,'' Bourloud said.