First, Do No Harm
Some people think that they are doing “good” for people because they believe there is a big discovery or reward for society behind a study they are conducting. Many studies that people conduct could actually present some important data, but the means in which they are conducted can ruin the credibility of the study. For example, the various studies that the Nazis conducted were meant to advance their military. The people that were conducting the studies truly thought they were doing something good for the nation of Germany. However, the way that the conducted the studies and the racism they used to select the participants was horrible and completely ruins the validity of the results.
One of the readings we did was about Dr. Fata, an oncologist, that had the complete opposite mentality. He was giving chemotherapy to those who didn’t have cancer and he gave too much chemotherapy for those who did have cancer. He let money step in front of his morals and that is why this happened. I experienced the impact of Dr. Fata’s harm first-hand as my father was one of his patients. My father did have cancer, but he reduced the quality of his life before he passed away from the disease because of the excess chemotherapy. Had Dr. Fata kept the saying “do no harm” in mind, the final years with my father could have been much more enjoyable. I will always keep this in mind as a doctor and it really highlights the fact that doing no harm is the first thing a doctor needs to consider.
Finally, it is important that we discuss these topics so similar events never happen again. As the saying goes, history certainly does repeat itself, but in harmful medical practices, I hope we can prove that wrong.