Why do people say heart transplants "save lives?"?

Question

Mario Deng and his colleagues followed all the patients listed for a heart transplant in Germany in the year 1997. There was NO DIFFERENCE IN SURVIVAL RATES between those who actually received a heart transplant and those who did not.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/321/7260/540?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&titleabstract=Effect+of+heart+transplantant&searchid=1008056880646_3104&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=30

A third-generation freethinker

Answer 1

Believe me, they do save lives.

Answer 2

You obviously didn't read the article you posted.  The study divided patients into three groups, and found that the 2 groups with severe heart problems benefited, and the one group with less severe heart problems did not benefit.

It does little good to be a free thinker if you don't actually think.  

Answer 3

Heart transplants is simply against nature.  Often times, any organ from a different person have a different genetic write-up, and if genetics are out of sync, then your body may start attacking your transplanted organ.  Artificial hearts are not a good alternative to natural hearts, since they require a machine to keep going.  Sure, heart transplants have saved some lives, but they also have cost lives.  Heart transplants should only be done if there is no other choice to save someones life.