Houston: 1969

Dr. Denton Cooley’s patient Haskell Karp awaits a heart transplant and is offered a temporary artificial heart instead. The chapter recapitulates the efforts of the DeBakey lab in artificial heart experiments and the development of testable model. Cooley and DeBakey lab technician Domingo Liotta conspire to hijack an artificial heart model. Implantation of the device occurs in Karp, followed by pleas for human donor. Baylor investigates the circumstances of the Karp operation and the procuring of an artificial heart. Following the investigation, Liotta is dismissed and Cooley resigns. This is the beginning of a four-decade estrangement between DeBakey and Cooley.