David Vetter, Case Study
Case:
On September 21, 1971, an infant was born with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). The child was David Vetter III, third child of David Joseph Vetter Jr. and Carol Ann Vetter. The first child was Katherine and the second child (also named David Vetter III), died after seven months “Doctors said that the baby boy had been born with a defective thymus, a gland which is important in the functioning of the immune system, due to a genetic condition, SCID. Each further son the couple might conceive would have a 50% chance of inheriting the same condition.” (Montgomery, South, & Wilson, 2006). However, a group of doctors told the Vetters that if they had another child with SCID, the child could be placed in a sterile isolator until a bone marrow transplant could be performed, using the older sister, Katherine, as a donor. The couple was eager to have another child, so, believing that after a short treatment their child could live a normal life, they decided to go through another pregnancy
Medical Indications
The hospital staff has made a heroic effort to create germ free conditions. After less than twenty seconds of exposure to the world, the baby is placed in a plastic isolator bubble that will protect him from disease. However, after the birth of David, it was discovered that Katherine was not a match, thus removing the possibility of the transplant. There had been no discussion of what would happen in this case, or how long the prospective child would remain in the bubble. The question we now have to ask is what is to be done baring the transplant? How long should or could the young boy survive in this isolation bubble. The ethics of keeping the child alive and isolated for the purpose of research is troubling to say the least, but what other steps can we take? In retrospect, the biggest ethical problem was the failure to plan for the worst-case scenario. In what seemed like an instant, the isolator had gone from a stopgap measure to David
On September 21, 1971, an infant was born with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID). The child was David Vetter III, third child of David Joseph Vetter Jr. and Carol Ann Vetter. The first child was Katherine and the second child (also named David Vetter III), died after seven months “Doctors said that the baby boy had been born with a defective thymus, a gland which is important in the functioning of the immune system, due to a genetic condition, SCID. Each further son the couple might conceive would have a 50% chance of inheriting the same condition.” (Montgomery, South, & Wilson, 2006). However, a group of doctors told the Vetters that if they had another child with SCID, the child could be placed in a sterile isolator until a bone marrow transplant could be performed, using the older sister, Katherine, as a donor. The couple was eager to have another child, so, believing that after a short treatment their child could live a normal life, they decided to go through another pregnancy
Medical Indications
The hospital staff has made a heroic effort to create germ free conditions. After less than twenty seconds of exposure to the world, the baby is placed in a plastic isolator bubble that will protect him from disease. However, after the birth of David, it was discovered that Katherine was not a match, thus removing the possibility of the transplant. There had been no discussion of what would happen in this case, or how long the prospective child would remain in the bubble. The question we now have to ask is what is to be done baring the transplant? How long should or could the young boy survive in this isolation bubble. The ethics of keeping the child alive and isolated for the purpose of research is troubling to say the least, but what other steps can we take? In retrospect, the biggest ethical problem was the failure to plan for the worst-case scenario. In what seemed like an instant, the isolator had gone from a stopgap measure to David
Bibliography: Borza, S. (2014). ScienceLine.org. Retrieved 2 11, 2014, from ScienceLine: http://scienceline.org/2006/07/blog-borza-bubble/ Groves, J. R. (2005). Ethics of Health Care 3rd edition. Andover, Hampshire, GBR: Delmar Cengage Learning. McKay, J. R. (2009, Sept). Contininuing Care Research: What we have learned and where are we. Retrieved 09 11, 2013, from Betty Ford Institiute organization: http://www.bettyfordinstitute.org/publisher/treatment/wp-content/uploads/Continuing-care-research.pdf Montgomery, J. R., South, M. a., & Wilson, J. (. (2006, April). American Experience "The boy in the bubble". Retrieved 2 2014, from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bubble/sfeature/sf_forum.html