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A new face, a new ID needed

Print | Comments () Posted by Chelsea Conaboy June 6, 2011 05:40 PM

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By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Imagine all of the challenges that a person must deal with when he has a full face transplant, and this one might not come immediately to mind. Mitch Hunter, the second American to receive a full face transplant, flew home Saturday, six weeks after the procedure at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He had to do it without a photo ID to match his new face.

He wrote Erin McDonough, hospital spokeswoman, today to tell her that he used a hospital bulletin that included before and after photos to prove to security officials at Logan that he was who he said he was. They had heard his story and let him through, she said.

Turns out that was the easy part. A host at an airport bar, where he was hoping to grab a bite to eat before his flight home, refused to seat him because he didn't have a usable ID, Hunter wrote on his Facebook page.

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About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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