Experiments play a significant role in the progress of medicine. They help researchers to fill in the gaps in knowledge in certain areas through testing, analyzing clinical and laboratory effects, and research of information. However, sometimes, the methods of conducting experiments can go against ethical principles. In this essay, the summary of the movie named Miss Evers’ Boys, which shows a story about a secret medical experiment, will be discussed.
All the events of the movie revolve around the secret Tuskegee Experiment conducted by the U.S. government in the first half of the last century. This study aimed to passively watch hundreds of black men who had syphilis despite the availability of effective therapy (Alsan, & Wanamaker, 2018). The main character of the story is a nurse, Eunice Evers, who is sent to Tuskegee to assist doctors in the treatment of black men with syphilis.
The government promised free treatment for people, but in reality, ordered to provide fake therapy to see how the disease develops in human bodies. The movie shows an unprecedented act of violence of duty-based ethics by healthcare professionals. They neglected the main principles of the medical statute, the Hippocratic Oath. Being aware of effective medication, they were destroying peoples’ lives pretending to be helpers.
Indeed, maintaining ethical behavior by medical workers is very important in the process of people’s treatment. Healthcare professionals, especially those who have leadership roles, should control ethical vigilance and implement a certain strategy of how to fight inappropriate behavior in a medical environment. Those who violate these rules and intentionally destroy people’s health should be punished according to the law and excluded from medical practice. Unfortunately, as it is shown in the movie, sometimes it can be too late to correct mistakes made by dishonest employees.
Reference
Alsan, M., Wanamaker, M. (2018). Tuskegee and the health of black men. The quarterly journal of economics, 133(1), 407-455.