Roughly eight months after implanting an artificial heart in a patient who later died, French doctors have done it again but without the fanfare and transparency of the first, reports The Local.
The heart was implanted three weeks ago in a hospital in the western France city of Nantes, but there were no updates on how the patient was doing.
That's because no details have been released officially by Carmat, the biotech maker of the heart, which has even refused to confirm the heart was implanted.
The radio silence is likely connected to the high economic stakes surrounding the success or failure of the implant, French paper Libération reported. Perfecting the heart could lead to Carmat owning the market for the device.
The last recipient died in March, 75 days after undergoing the world's first implant of an artificial heart, but little has been revealed about the cause of the 76-year-old man's death.
Read more of this report from The Local.