Reference no: EM133494789

• • Cancer has been known throughout history as a disease without a cure. It has been fraught with fear, shunning of those inflicted, and fatal to all. Initially, it was even considered to be contagious. By 1947, the stigma and dread were so great, a doctor from Boston's Children Hospital named Sydney Farber, MD began to experiment on children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
  • Dr. Farber, an American pediatric pathologist, is considered to be the father of modern chemotherapy. He conducted experiments where he injected children diagnosed with Leukemia with a toxic agent called Aminopterin. In early experimentation, 10 of 16 of the children went into remission, demonstrating that targeting and killing the cancer was a successful form of treatment.
  • Other types of experiments were also being done. Dr. Emil Grubbe investigated radiation and Dr. William Halsted pursued the surgical removal of the cancerous tumor. Each of these methods created its own challenges and often led to additional disease diagnoses through the process of experimenting. Today all of these methods can be successful when used appropriately. In the film, you will watch the struggle to find a cure as one medication used as a chemo agent led to 4 medications being used. The four medication combination, VAMP: Vincristine, Adriamycin, Methotrexate, and Prednisone was initially so controversial, yet successful, that when Dr. Farber, MD was asked to use it on his Leukemia children, he was quoted as saying, "I will not injure a child".
• Read back through lessons 7 and 8, and consider the skill set that we discussed when defining a leader, manager, and ethical decisions.
• Make a paper that articulates your ethical position.
  • Reference guidelines and requirements for this assignment in the Orientation module: Case Studies page.
  • Do not discuss the choices made in the film, rather discuss your willingness to work in an environment of experimentation or to work with patients who are choosing this course of therapy experimentation.
    • How far should experimentation go? What is too far?
    • What lengths should we be allowed to experiment on children?
    • When doctors do not want to experiment, should they be forced to?
    • When doctors bring forth concerns should they be told to push forward? (Remember, in the film you saw Dr. Nathan, MD discuss his ethical dilemma with the NIH (National Institute of Health) and was told by the head of the NIH Dr. Zubra, MD to, "Push forward as we made a commitment to do so".)
    • How do you feel about experimentation?
    • What did you learn about yourself? What if you are faced with making this type of decision for your child, would your decision be different?
• Submit your document by uploading it to this assignment by the due date listed on the course calendar.