Sometimes it hurts to give...and to receive. Really hurts.

Judge Joseph Spencer needs a heart transplant. It's taken a lot of fast talking from his wife and doctor to convince him, but he's finally capitulated. While in preoperative holding and just minutes before his surgery, Spencer recognizes the donor of his new heart-a man guilty of a ruthless crime. Spencer's sedation makes it impossible for him to protest this unimaginable horror, and he loses consciousness before anything can be done.

Spencer's doctor, chief heart-transplant surgeon Ross Fairing, confronts his own consternation that a courageous and innovative operation has created an ethical conundrum that could destroy his transplant program. But even more, it could erode the public's trust in its physicians, reduce the criminal justice system to ineptitude, and facilitate civil disorder.

Spencer survives the surgery but becomes suicidal, leading Fairing to uncover a deadly hospital conspiracy. A disgruntled surgeon and a vindictive cardiology fellow are involved with a member of the criminal justice system whose personal agenda could destroy all that Fairing has worked for-and end Spencer's life in the process.

Morality and medicine collide with the criminal justice system in "The Donation," shining light on one of the most pressing and controversial issues in the medical field today.

Sometimes it hurts to give...and to receive. Really hurts. Judge Joseph Spencer needs a heart transplant. It s taken a lot of fast talking from his wife and doctor to convince him, but he s finally capitulated. While in preoperative holding and just minutes before his surgery, Spencer sees and recognizes the donor of his new heart. Spencer's sedation makes it impossible for him to protest this unimaginable horror, and he loses consciousness, unable to abort the procedure, even though to do so could cost him his life. Spencer s doctor, chief heart-transplant surgeon Ross Fairing, confronts his own consternation that a courageous and innovative operation has created an ethical conundrum that could destroy his transplant program. But even more, it could erode the public s trust in its physicians, reduce the criminal justice system to ineptitude, and facilitate civil disorder. Spencer survives the surgery but becomes suicidal, leading Fairing to uncover a deadly hospital conspiracy. A disgruntled surgeon and a vindictive cardiology fellow are involved with a member of the criminal justice system whose personal agenda could destroy all that Fairing has worked for and end Spencer s life in the process. Morality and medicine collide with the criminal justice system in The Donation, shining light on one of the most pressing and controversial issues in the medical field today. "A cardiothoracic surgeon, Lee knows this territory like the inside of a chest cavity. The novel includes canny observations about hospital politics and the unseemly business end of medicine, along with well-observed medical procedures." Kirkus Discoveries

"Near Misses in Cardiac Surgery," best-seller in its field when originally published, has been reissued with a new foreword by Denton A. Cooley, M.D., Surgeon-in-Chief, Texas Heart Institute. Now endorsed by contemporary leaders in cardiac surgery, extracorporeal perfusion, and cardiology, "Near Misses in Cardiac Surgery" has stood the test of time and will introduce a new generation of cardiothoracic surgeons and interventionalists to principles, timeless as they are essential, that enable the outcomes of cardiothoracic procedures, once performed only by surgeons in the operating room, to be successful in new hybrid suites during a transitional period in our history.

Historian Daniel Boorstin has said, "Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers. No matter what the technical advances are, the same principles that facilitate successful outcomes in surgery (teamwork, communication, vigilance, standardization and simplicity of techniques, anticipation of the next step) apply as well to today's hybrid procedures.

Reading like a medical thriller, "Near Misses in Cardiac Surgery" presents synopses of 43 true cases in which the patients survived, in the expectation that the reader, cast as the surgeon, will determine the cause of the problem and solve it before the patient's demise. The next section identifies the problem and how it was actually resolved by the surgical team. Each case concludes with a detailed discussion and references.

"Near Misses in Cardiac Surgery" has become a resource for the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network's safety reporting system (www.CTSNet.org) and was the template used by CTSNet as a teaching tool for theanonymous reporting of near-disasters by cardiac surgeons from around the world.

Written to challenge the reader that the patient's fate depends upon his or her ability to make appropriate decisions quickly and under pressure, this book will continue to provide clinical insight, not only for experienced cardiac surgeons, fellows and residents, but for anesthesiologists, cardiologists, internists, medical students, and nurses, as well.