Illustrating the increasing commercialization of medicine, an indignant Italian surgeon sent BioEdge a link to a video made by a transplant unit in Cagliari, in Sardinia. “I think that the entire field of transplant surgery has gone mad,” he complained.

The slick promotional film features patients, nurses, staff and surgeons dancing through the uncluttered, gleaming corridors of the Brotzu Hospital. According to Corriere della Sera, the comments on YouTube were scathing. “While you dance,” said one cynical viewer, “families are forced to change diapers, to empty their relatives’ urinals. As for the shiny corridors, the reality is that in most departments dust and crap are everywhere.” 

The staff of BioEdge has never been to Cagliari. We welcome comments!

Michael Cook
commercialization
Italy
transplant surgery

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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