Ethics Blurred with Good Intentions.

Mornin’ Peep!

So, this has been bugging me since last night, on The Good Doctor there was a little boy, who needed a liver biopsy to find out if his liver was crapping out.  He’d already been through one to know that they hurt, so he wasn’t having it.  The thing was, if he didn’t find out and get a new liver, he had 48-72 hours tops to live.  There were two docs on the case, one, a resident, the other, a former cop turned doc…keep that in mind.

When we come back to the storyline, the cop/doc goes to the kid, and starts talking to him about basketball, relating to the kid.  He gets him to calm down to do the biopsy.  The resident asked him how he knew the kid liked basketball, and the cop/doc said he saw his shoes.  The thing is, the kid wasn’t wearing shoes when he came in, and the resident called him on it.  Doc/cop said he went through the kid’s backpack, which took the resident aback.

OK, Joey and I’ve been talking about this ever since.  Cop/doc’s intentions were good, but he DID invade the kid’s privacy.  BUT, he DID get the kid to calm down to get the biopsy done.  So, the question’s raised: how far’s too far when intentions are good?  Sure, the kid’s a minor, but my argument’s that, unless he’s a threat to himself or the staff or he’s a John Doe coming in, the cop/doc had no business going through his stuff.  On the other hand, the biopsy might not’ve been done if he didn’t level with the kid, and the kid would’ve died.

Follow me?  The other part of the story was a convicted killer was the ONLY eligible donor for the kid, and he was willing to give a piece of his liver to the kid.  HOWEVER, when they started to do the procedure to take said piece of liver, the prisoner had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia.  They couldn’t finish without him dying.  When he found out the procedure was stopped, and the kid was going to die, he DEMANDED they do again.  They said no, so they were taking him back to prison.

They load the prisoner up in a wheelchair to take him to the paddy wagon to go back to prison when a cop notices he peed on himself, a reaction from the anesthesia.  They berate him and tell him to get up, that he doesn’t need the “special” treatment of the chair and proceed to haul him up.  HOWEVER, they were so lax in their job that the shackles weren’t on right.  When he stands, he overpowers a cop, swipes his gun, and now we have a standoff.  Here’s where ethics situation #2 comes in.

Cop/doc’s there, and he gets into the prisoner’s head, telling him he’s just a killer, and, if he goes, “Oh well.”  The prisoner honestly wanted to help the kid, so when the procedure failed, he said he failed again…like he had with everything else in his life.  He said as much.  Cop/doc persisted while the other residents were honestly trying to talk him down.

You know how people are, they tend to listen to the bad regardless of how many are saying good.  Same case here, the prisoner pushes the cop away, and blows his head off.  The kid has his liver.  When Dr. Brown tells the family they have a liver, she also tells the kid WHY he has a liver.  The kid, who originally didn’t said liver from a killer, now knows the extent the prisoner wanted to genuinely to help the kid, and the kid vows to take care of his new liver.

Let’s chat.  On the one hand, the 7x killer was a monster by society, but it was noted that he was a model prisoner for 9 years, he’d tried to give a part of his liver to another recipient, but the patient died before it could be done, and now, he has another chance.  He’d made mention this was the only way he could make his life right, so this was his choice.  Totally good intentions.

On the other hand cop/doc saw him as just a monster not worthy of living…AND, he had a kid that needed the liver the “monster” had.  So, he takes it upon himself to get into the “monster’s” head to push his red button.  My question: Was cop/doc’s bias and the need for a liver clouding his doc's oath to make it worth him intentionally pushing the prisoner to off himself ethical or not?  Two people polar opposites of society’s acceptance scale, if you will.

Think about it, and sound off.

Be good to each other.

-J-