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Frldiy, f November SO, 1034
Peg 3 5
utlandis'
PIT
pertinents victimize dying
y
i -
fTT he headlines Ennouncing her
death were classics of the
-L- penre. "Baby Fae Dies," read
one, "But Doctor Sees Gain for
Science."
The words relayed from Lorn
Linda dressed thh tiny casket
with a silver lining of progress
Dr. Leonard L. Bsiley, who over
saw the 21-day drama in the 32
dsylifeof the girl with the babron
heart, called her and her parents
"pioneers." The university spokes
man &t the memorial service said
solemnly, Baby Fae ha3 not lived
in vain, nor has she died in vain."
Even the mcther, we ore tcH,
gave one last wish, to the doctor
for hii experimental vcxlz "Carry
It on.
Ellen
Goodman
By the time Baby Fae is laid to
rest, the choreography of thl
public medical ballet wl have
been complete and completely
familiar. We have been through
tills enough to see the shape of a
ritual drama.
The plot opens and concludes
with "hope." At the beginning, the
doctors announce that they are
trying to save a patient, a life. The
technique is new, daring, promis
ing. There are risks, yes, but Bar
ney Clark may yet be back on the
golf course with his artificial heart
and Baby Fae may turn 20 with
her baboon heart. The story ends
with a claim cfrlctcry for 'science"
and a funeral. .
Each time the curtain rises, the
public audience suspends a bit of
its disbelief in preference for med
ical magic shows. We have
watched so many impossible cures
FREE
7S
! 1
i f
become routine treatment that
even when faced with a baboon
organ beating inside a human1
body we do not want to be con
sidered anti-science, anti-progress,
pessimistic.
"What if it works?" we say. After
all, when Christiaan Barnard did
the first human transplant, the
patient lived for only 18 dap.
Nov, 65 percent of transplants
done at Stanford live a year, and
half are alive after five years. Yes,
Barney Clark may have died after
1 12 days, but Dr. William DeVries
announced this week that he b
ready to try cain.
We dent know whether fren-tier-tlaaing"
experiments like animal-to-human
transplants are
headed down dead ends cr onto
new paths, whether we are talking
lattrile or penicillin.. We dont
know if Dr. Bailey, who fits the
alluring image of the buccaneer
scientist, i3 a committed crank cr
unrecognized genius. So, the
human and the editorial response
Is that t his situation "bears watch
ing," and "raises questions."
But I dont think we have to be
quite so reticent to jude this
medical event. The issue of ex
perimenting on terminally ill
human beings hea not always
been handled honestly. Dr.
Christiaan Barnard admitted in
his memoirs that he lied to the
first transplant patient. Dr.
Barnard told Louis Yashk&nsy
the strong odds of surviving just
the operation. '
Dr. Barnard describes the state
of mind of terminally ill patients
who become subjects for experi
ment quite accurately: "If a lion
chases you to the bank of a river
filled with crocodiles, you will
leap into the water convinced
you have a chance to swim to the
At the close of the business on Saturday night Stooges will only be memories . .
SO BRING YOURSELVES, YOUR FRIENDS & YOUR CAMERAS and be prepared to
PARTY at STOOGES for the last time.
3
!(.!
momento to remember Stooges by for
(Or while they last)
50 Milwaukee's .Best 75' Old Milwaukee Can:
$2.00 Pitchers $1.00 Cans of Beer
16 02. bottles of Rainier $1.00 Mixed Drinks
EiiL mm you oncoln .
other side when you would never
accept such odds if there were no
lion."
We have all known people chas
ed by the lions of cancer or heart
disease. Two years ago, Barney
Clark signed an 11-page consent
form for an artificial heart, and
leapt into that water. He had the
right to do so.
Here the question is whether a
parent has the right to throw a
child in. All the medical evidence
of this case except for the
original boasting testimony of Dr.
Eai! cy suggests that this infant
had no chance to survive into
toddkrhood, let alcne adulthood.
Given that, we have to conclude
that Baby Fae'a body was donated,
alive, to science. The rationale,
that she was "going to die any
way," implies that it is open
season on the dying, that we can
try even the most outlandish ex
periment cn these human beings.
Vi Daily ti
afcato
EDITOR
GENERAL MANAGER
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PUBLICATIONS BOARD
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Dr. Bailey, who called this
transplant a "tremendous victory "
is planning to do it again. It is
entirely possible that he found
what we was looking for, a reason
to go on tinkering with newborns
and baboons. But whatever
rationale there was for the first
experiment the idea that a
newborn with an undeveloped
immune system could absorb a
foreign body better than an adult
there is none for a secend
experiment.
Those who cannot give consent
should be the last, not the first,
people we use for experiments. It
may be diScult to stop at the
shoreline when the lion fa gaining
on your hold. But when the croc
odiles are hungry and the baby
cant swim, there is no mercy
in throwing that child in the water.
Cr?XRy'Vsh5st;i3a Pest Vr'Urs
ViH iiM' &ji'
Chris Wdsch, 472-1 763
DsnlslhsSl
KISly Pc"aky
Ulzk Foley, 475-C275
Angsla Htetf&Ed, 475-4S31
Don YeUon, 473-7201
the first 500 customers.
1 i
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