Bioethics In Concussion

To do what is “right” even when others try to convince you to turn a blind eye, that exemplifies what it means to be an ethical person. In the film Concussion, neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu is forced to choose between speaking for the dead and being professionally destroyed by a multibillion dollar organization. While there is no bioethics genre within filmography, Concussion depicts issues of bioethics concern. The purpose of this essay is to present main themes raised within the film, determine which issues within these themes contain bioethical questions and describe the features that make these issues aspects of bioethics concern. While watching Concussion I identified three main themes. The first is organization v. individuals. What
In the film the NFL relied on Dr. Maroon’s advice, thereby giving him authority over a disease he knew nothing about. Dr. Maroon’s voice, the NFL’s and others who disliked Dr. Omalu’s conclusions became the majority. The problem with this is that the majority is not always correct. From time to time the majority’s conclusions should be questioned. More importantly, the majority should question itself. This did not happen in the film. Even at the end the NFL proclaimed that playing football is safe. This begs the question of the role of the physician, which is the last identified theme. Throughout the film Dr. Omalu makes statements such as, “you took an oath…tell the truth…and by dying they speak for the living and I speak for them.” What makes this an issue is that Dr. Omalu’s actions suggest that physicians have a duty not only to their patients in life, but to their patients even in death. Two ways Dr. Omalu did this is by showing compassion during autopsies and giving the dead athletes a voice. But, Dr. Maroon’s actions suggested that he was looking out for the interests of the NFL not the
The first is an organization’s monetary interest. The ethical question embedded within this topic is whether it is ethical for sport organizations to withhold information from players pertaining to potential risks known to be associated with their particular sport? What makes this question bioethical is whether football players are giving informed consent when they decide to play. The second issue is the duty a physician has to their patient. In the film Dr. Omalu stated that “the dead are my patients,” yet he discloses that the brain samples are from Mike Webster. The ethical question raised within this issue is whether a person is considered a patient during an autopsy and does a person who is dead have the right to not have their name disclosed with a particular test? What makes this an ethical question are issues related to privacy and confidentiality. If a person who is dead can still be viewed as a patient then their health information should remain protected, if not, then it needs to be considered whether the dead have any rights to the protection of their