Which myoblasts will make me look like Tom Cruise?

His Virtualness notes that Don Ho engaged in bit of medical tourism, heading to Thailand. In this case it wasn't a question of saving money (although the cost at $30,000 to $40,000 is probably less than comparable surgery in the U.S). It was that the operation wasn't even available in the U.S. Bureaucrats said, "Die," but were given the Heave Ho.

And in other news, a mechanical pacemaker was replaced by one conjured from living tissue. How long before "living tissue" and "mechanical tissue" become indistinguishable?

UPDATE: Fixed a couple of typos. Epistemological question: Why bother now?