Among other things, the Clark experiment raised questions about the adequacy of informed consent of potential recipients. But the IRB at Utah, troubled by the many complications that had arisen during the experiment, asked for many changes and clarifications in the research protocol before giving DeVries permission to try another implant. They had kept a man alive in the final stages of heart failure for well over three months. After his death, more than 1,300 people, including political figures, members of the governing council of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) Church, of which Clark was a member, many of his doctors, and media representatives from around the world attended his funeral in Seattle, Washington.ĭeVries and the Utah group pronounced the Clark experiment a success. After a few weeks on the machine, his emotional and cognitive state deteriorated severely, and on more than one occasion, he asked that the artificial heart be turned off. He suffered a wide range of complications that required three additional surgical procedures. But Clark followed a very rocky course during the 112 days he lived with the Jarvik-7 device. In the days after the implant, the healthcare team made many optimistic pronouncements to the media about Clark's chances for survival. Jarvik and DeVries spent many hours speaking with the media about the operation, the device, and their patient's health status.
When his heart began to fail on December 1, he was taken to the operating room, and after a nine-hour operation he became the first human being to receive an artificial heart intended as a permanent replacement for his own. He signed the eighteen-page consent form the night he was admitted to the hospital. Clark, a retired dentist who had been admitted to the University of Utah Medical Center on November 29, 1982, with cardiomyopathy, was deemed to be an ideal candidate for the first implant of the Jarvik heart (Fox and Swazey) as he was educated, enthusiastic, and had a very supportive family.
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