Is it ever okay to kill a patient? As House says, “I don’t think we’ll be dealing with any more genocidal dictators,” when Chase asks if he will be fired. But maybe they will deal with someone else loathsome? At some point, does it become easier to take a life? How far does the line slide? And what about the Hippocratic Oath?
Of course, the debate has raged for years about whether or not doctors should be allowed to assist their patients with suicide. I’m sure that the question of whether or not it’s okay for a doctor ever to kill a patient against their will doesn’t even merit debate: I cannot think of a single instance in which it is okay for a doctor to murder. Doctors simply have too much power. If there were ever an exception to the rule, “first, do no harm,” then we would be in some real trouble. We can think doctors are arrogant asses, but more or less, I think we trust them not to kill us.
So, what do you make of the Chase/Dibala situation? Is this actually a moral dilemma? Will Chase suffer the repercussions of this on his conscience, not just, presumably, on his marriage? Obviously the show has gone in some wacky directions before, but why on Earth did they decide Chase should kill Dibala? Don’t they remember what happened to him when he killed a patient by accident?
If we can assume that it is never okay to kill a patient, then Chase should be fired. However, I like my original idea better: Cameron kills Dibala and gets caught. Though, I suppose that could dismantle the department. At any rate, I think they are just reaching now to make things “interesting.” I mean, does anybody besides Oreo really want Thirteen to come back?
I asked my 16-year-old son, formerly a huge fan, if he wanted to watch House with me tonight, and he said, “Do I have to?” That pretty much sums it up.
Clacked by Jen Creer
on Oct 12, 2009 @ 22:12 EST5EDT
I would have killed the bastard, certain people need to die and certain other people care strong enough (or argue weak enough) to do it.
House saying it was fine was a little shocking, maybe this is more of New House showing through.
13 is awesome.
I think she should come back as well as Taub, and Foreman should get fired.
I agree with the rest though.
I agree with your 16 year-old. :)
13 is beyond awful. Sorry, Paul. Let her go to Thailand and never come back, but I don’t think I’ll get my wish.
I think Chase had to be the one to kill Dibala. It was so out of character for him, but showed what he is capable of, and yes, I think it’s going to destroy his and Cameron’s marriage. A pretty good show exit for them.
Who will be the new team? Don’t know. I liked Taub, but I guess the writers don’t think he’s worth checking in on. Too bad. I’d like House to be crazy again. Amber is such a good conscience for him.
If we can assume that it is never okay to kill a patient, then Chase should be fired. .
Are you sure you have things in perspective? Just fired? If Chase murdered a human being, he should be turned into the police to be criminally prosecuted.
Of course, another way to think about this is that instead of killing one person, Chase saved 2 million people, the minority Dibala was about to order slain.
It’s the “Would you kill Adolf Hitler?” question. Would you save the 20 million people lost in WWII by killing him? Or is one life more valuable/important than 20 million?
*POST AUTHOR*
Eldritch, I had to laugh– you’re absolutely right. I hadn’t really gotten that far in my thinking.
I am not disputing, for the record, that Dibala deserved to die. I just can’t quite support the notion of DOCTORS killing PATIENTS. However, there was nobody else around to do it, so I guess it was Chase.
I would absolutely kill Hitler. Absolutely.
The Hippocratic Oath is really more of a quaint idea than a meaningful thing these days. Some medical schools make the oath part of their graduation ceremony; others don’t. So there are lots of doctors out there who have never taken the oath.
And the oath goes into a number of strange directions. For one thing, it’s a vow to the Greek gods, which doesn’t carry as much weight as that used to.
My favorite part is the vow to teach medicine only to the sons of other doctors. Too bad for any budding doctor who wasn’t born into a medical family! ;-)
It also forbids abortion. Too bad for those of us who believe a woman should have control over her own body.
It also forbids euthanasia, which is legal in certain states of the US.
Wikipedia has a nice write up:
Wikipedia has a nice write up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipocratic_oath
Yes. Euthanasia and abortion certainly is killing.
If I were trapped in a cancerous body with no future but intractable pain, I would certainly hope some merciful doctor would help me.
Who knows, maybe I would choose to live with the pain, but I would certainly like the choice.