Bacteria on the Brain

Re:Bacteria on the Brain by porejide on Monday November 30, 2015 @06:34PM (#10652676)

In my reading there were three parts of the article:

Part I: Optimism. Is this a new curative treatment for a cancer with an extremely poor prognosis? We get to see Muizelaar's perspective on why he (presumably) thought he was doing the right thing.

Part II: The Fall. Deaths, lawsuits, the expose, resignations.

Part III: Resolution. Maybe there is some value in an alternative approach that focuses on mechanism and iterates towards human trials via animal studies. But also, maybe there is something to be said about Muizelaar's approach that our current medicolegal system isn't equipped to handle.

To me, the structure of the article helped to underscore that Muizelaar might have been right, which is key for using this article as a way to learn about science and rationality as opposed to solely for its object-level information. Just listing the facts almost certainly would not have been as useful for getting that point across.

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by jacobush on Monday November 30, 2015 @06:42PM (#10652703)

I liked it. Much better than the simple "LET ME TELL Y'ALL ABOUT AN UNETHICAL DOCTOR" opening to an article.

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by andy_ppp on Monday November 30, 2015 @07:32PM (#10652914)

I'm more frustrated that there wasn't a clear editorial take in the article. I'd like to have seen some research done by the journalist into what the correct ethics are in a situation like this. My feeling is that without the option to have euthanasia (should things get worse) you are promising a tiny tiny chance of a possible cure but a large chance of increased suffering too.

The tiny chance of 40 more years of life might be worth it but its crazy to try experimental treatments as a first roll of the dice!

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by DanBC on Monday November 30, 2015 @07:44PM (#10652965)

If you like audio there's a BBC Radio Four programme called "Inside the Ethics Committee". They have a bunch of people with real world experience of medical ethics, and they take real events and walk through them, explaining what happens at each step.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007xbtd

It's a surprisingly tough listen. Here's one example of a child with a treatable brain tumour. He didn't like the treatment, and when he got another tumour he decided he didn't want treatment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0643x61

I think it's available to people outside the UK.

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by ScottBurson on Tuesday December 01, 2015 @12:10AM (#10653745)

> I'm more frustrated that there wasn't a clear editorial take in the article.

I'm glad there wasn't. I think the issues raised are difficult ones, with no simple, obvious resolution. Sometimes we're better off living with complexity and ambiguity.

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by andy_ppp on Tuesday December 01, 2015 @04:10AM (#10654292)

It's not complex at all! The doctor did loads of immoral things and the article sympathised with him.

He even says that he wouldn't attend training because he knows best. After his treatment caused several patients to suffer more or die earlier.

Sometimes we are better off calling bad medical practice illegal and immoral rather than trying to say "whaaaaa it's complicated".

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Re:Bacteria on the Brain by ScottBurson on Tuesday December 01, 2015 @01:31PM (#10657631)

I don't think it's nearly that black-and-white. The doctor performed a procedure he would have wanted performed on himself in the same (exceedingly desperate) circumstances. He was careful to fully inform the patients of the risks. Above all, he had his patients' welfare at heart; he wasn't doing it for money or fame or even knowledge. What he did may have been illegal, but I don't agree that it was clearly immoral.

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