Would you give your body up to science after death? How about when alive? After learning about lobotomies I am skeptical about doctors conducting new experiments on patients. I always thought of giving my body to science after I die, but the idea of being part of a new experiment frightens me greatly. I can’t really be sure of a decision thought because if I were dying and the only possible cure was still in the beginning stages, I might take that chance. But the truth of some experiments is, that not only can they be extremely dangerous or have fatal side effects, but the patients might also be manipulated into believing it’s a successful experiment.
In the horror movie The Haunting in Connecticut, the main character Matt has began a new treatment for cancer that is still in the works. With consent of both his parents and himself and knowledge of the side effects he was a great candidate. Now this is a scientific experiment I approve of. When people are aware of the risks of any sort of medical treatment that is still non-perfected and the doctors have consent, it’s more than acceptable to experiment on that human. Unless of course, what the doctor tells the family is false. But in history, doctors have lied to patients and parents and even without consent, performed dangerous experiments.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the patients in the ward have no say in what is done to them experimentally. During that time, it was common for doctors to perform lobotomies and shock therapy on patients even if there were many previous failures and deaths due to it. The fact that doctors, physicians, nurses, etc. could approve of such a terrible misuse of power. Doctors would perform these dangerous ‘surgeries’ on children that haven’t even fully developed yet. Children that could be naturally going through a phase were subjected to being lobotomized. It’s a disgusting thought in my mind. I’m glad that science evolved into realizing the rights of their patients/experiment subjects. I just wish they also thought about the rights of animals.
that it is a scary thought, being munipulated by your doctor!
ReplyDeleteNayara, excellent connection to Cuckoo's Nest. When Mr. Taber asks about the medicine that his doctors are giving him, he is punished for insubordination. It's clear that the patients in this novel are not in control of their own bodies. A scary thought indeed.
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