The Ethics of Erasing a Bad Memory

[Prrkitty]

http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...0.html?cnn=yes

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Quoting any part of the article without the rest of it would take away from the article as a whole.

This article touched me... in ways that I can't honestly put into words. I can understand the viewpoint of the patient as she was going into this procedure. But I can also see the viewpoint of the nurses... why the anesthesiologist did what he did at that specific moment in time... and especially the doctors inner dilemma with himself.

I hope the doctor comes to terms with himself for what happened during the procedure with this patient. At the time he did what he thought was best for that patient.

If the patient was me... I'd hope that exactly what happened then... would happen for me.

I've had the c-word (cancer) scare.

[Aegix Drakan]

...I can't fault the Doc in this case. I'd have probably done the same thing.

Being under surgery, and hearing a professional say (more or less) over the intercom "YOU HAVE CANCER" is the worst way to find out. And if it had been a false alarm, she would have suffered severe mental trauma over nothing.

Although I think toying with memories in such a way is morally wrong, I think that in some cases, it's acceptable, and sometimes even the only right thing to do.

If I were in that woman's place, I'd have wanted that memory wiped too.

[Prrkitty]

She died not knowing the full story of what happened... that's the dilemma for the doctor. He never told her.

And ultimately there's probably just as many people in the world that would say they'd want to know as there is those that would say they'd not want to be told.

[cyberkitten]

i don't think he did anything unethical, and i don't believe the woman suffered any ill effects from the decisions made by the two doctors. i found out the hard way that those medications don't always work the same way in every person. being in the operating room, during surgery, and hearing "oh my god, she's awake" is not a good feeling. granted, i was back out very quickly thanks to a quick anesthesiologist, but they were not only suprised i woke up, they were stunned that i remembered being awake, and could quote entire sentences of the conversations they were having.
trust me...coming from someone who's heard something unnerving in an operating room...we want to be asleep. we want to be oblivious and not even know about the mistakes that happened. it doesn't do much for your well being to have that memory. i'd much prefer to not have to keep those memories (it's happened to me more than once) in my consciousness.

[Prrkitty]

I was supposed to be "mostly unconscious" when they did my spinal injection (inserting a LONG needle up along on my spinal cord so they could inject the stuff they were injecting... into a specific bundle of nerves.

I wasn't unconscious... I was awake. And I could feel the initial prick of the needle and it's threading along my spine. Plus I could hear all the comments being said and I kept trying to tell them I could feel it all... they ignored me.

I'd have rather been unconscious.

[Anarchy_Balsac]

Wether or not she suffered any ill effects isn't the point. If it were me, I would not want the doctor to do that, and wether their intentions are good or not, I don't want doctors arbitrarily deciding what we should and shouldn't remember about experiences involving them.

His intentions may have been good, but he still crossed a line that should not have been crossed.

[Prrkitty]

Anarchy... now see I have to disagree with you *ONLY* because she heard *while* the procedure was being done. That ain't a good place or time for her to freak out. She was hooked up to all kinds of machines (I'm sure)... wires everywhere... so they needed her to stay calm, cool and collected... AND unconscious (so to speak).

<just my two cents>

[Anarchy_Balsac]

I understand that, but they could have explained that to her and asked. If it's explained to me that I'm way too hyper and the only way I can survive is to accept that "milk of amnesia" then fine, I'd accept it(for the record though, I would not wanna be conscious during surgery either). I'm not saying I don't understand why it was done, because I do, but it is still bad to cross that line, even when it seems right to.

[Trevelyan_06]

Here's the thing though, both sides of this debate are correct in their own ways. Everyone I think can agree that hearing about the cancer like that over the intercom is not a good way to go about discovering you indeed have cancer.

Now for the main debate. Should the knock out drug been used like it was? Well now, that's the question isn't it? Before we look at that in detail, we have to realize this. They had a split second to decide whether or not to use that or not to use that. We have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. The decision was made in probably less than a second and the person that made it has to live with it forever.

Erasing the memory spared the woman the trauma of discovering she had cancer is such a shocking and scary way. However, it came at the cost of perhaps unethically violating her personal memories. But, what if they had decided they couldn't do that because it was in fact unethical for them and the woman suffered psychological problems from this that could have complicated the treatment for her cancer? In that situation would the doctor then feel bad because he could have spared her that memory and thus the problems that went with it? It's hard to say, and really I don't think it can be satisfactorily answered.

What about the doctor never telling her? Again, I think it's the same thing. Did not knowing hurt her, and would have knowing hurt her? The doctor knew that she didn't have long left to live and I think he wanted to spare her any and all unnecessary pains. I'd just like the say in conclusion though, that we can't know what would have happened had the doctor made different decisions. This is one of those ethical questions that has no real clear answer.

[Anarchy_Balsac]

You have a point about the psychological problems, however, if the situation was pointed out to her, and she was asked if she wanted to receive the treatment, but refused, at least it could be said to be her own fault(partially, the guy on the intercom was at fault too). They did have more than a split second to make the decision too, remember that it erases your last few "minutes" not your last few seconds.