The Nurse is Outraged. . . .

I was surfing past the DIXONVERSE Message Boards today when I found this post:

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A guilty pleasure of mine is Grey's Anatomy. At least it was until this season. I thought the first two seasons were just quirky enough for this show, sort of a "dramatic Scrubs" or a "surgical ER", to work. This season they go and do something that has morally outraged me so much, that I can't stand to watch the show anymore.
In a nutshell, one of the characters, a student doctor named Izzy, was in love with a heart patient named Denny. Denny needed a new heart, BAD. But there was someone on the list before him. Izzy deliberately worsened Denny's condition to bump him up on the list. Long story short, Denny still dies. Izzy is found out and she quits. And the other doctors cover for her.
There's no outrage about what she did. For all we know she killed Denny by worsening his condition and she may have killed another patient by bumping Denny on the list, another doctor is shot while trying to rush back to tend to Denny. And the big outrage of the other doctors is none of that, but that she quit surgical medicine. On top of everything else, she inherits eight million dollars from Denny. And people wonder why I'm not an organ donor. (That's not it, but that's not the point.)
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After reading this description I remember why I don't watch network TV anymore. "Melodramatic Pap" is the nicest thing I can say here -- but's let's go over the legal and ethical lapses here.

(1). {{one of the characters, a student doctor named Izzy, was in love with a heart patient named Denny.}}

Besides this being a cliched and tired plot device, it's unethical for a health care provider to engage in relationships of any kind with their patients, whether business, personal, or professional. Falling in Love and having ANY kind of a relationship with a patient will get your license suspended in most states. I've seen it happen once.


(2). {{Izzy deliberately worsened Denny's condition to bump him up on the list. Long story short, Denny still dies.}}

Izzy is guilty of murder, pure and simple. The motives are not relevant -- she deliberately caused a series of events to occur that resulted in the death of Denny, and possibly the other individual who was higher on the list than Denny. So, possibly TWO counts of murder. Even if you have compassion (?!?!?!) on Izzy for the love angle, the other person on the list will probably die because of Izzy's manipulations of the transplant list; which in itself is a felony in every state.


(3). {{Izzy is found out and she quits. And the other doctors cover for her.}}

She's damned lucky she was "allowed" to quit -- she should have been terminated from the program and arrested. Any one of the felonies mentioned above should disqualify her from ever working in the Healthcare field again -- not to mention the ethical breaches, for God's sake!

And the other doctors who covered for her? They are now Accessories After The Fact, and liable for the death(s) of these patients as well. THESE are the kinds of doctors you want treating you -- who lie to cover up an unethical murderer?


(4). {another doctor is shot while trying to rush back to tend to Denny.}}

I wish this was just bad writing to enhance the drama -- unfortuantely, this, too, is a consequence of Izzy's sophmoric lovestruck actions. Harm that ensues in the commission of a felony is also actionable. The fact that these alleged "doctors" show no outrage that one of their own was injured by Izzy's hormonally-driven idiocy just shows how brain-dead these writers are. All you need is Love, baby, and it's all okay in the end.


(5). {{ On top of everything else, she inherits eight million dollars from Denny.}}

This is the point that pushed my Suspension of Disbelief right out the window. I don't care how much of a "friend" I am to Izzy -- I'm going to seriously question whether or not Izzy manipulated the emotions of a wealthy patient in order to get into his will, then killed him for the money.

Maybe I just watch too many cop shows, but any physician who will violate half a dozen laws and codes of ethical behavior for no apparent reason is unstable -- but when the money comes into play, it's cold-blooded murder.

So, it’s back to the History Channel for me! I saw a fantastic episode of their series “Man, Moment, Machine” the other night on General Patton at the Battle of the Bulge. I knew he was a magnificent tank commander – but I had no idea he actually INVENTED the American Tank Corps – twice; both in World Wars I & II. His literal “point man” during the Bulge was a young Lieutenant Colonel named Ceighton Abrams – the man they named the M-1 Tanks after. Abrams engaged in a one-on-one running shootout with a German Panzer Tank to open the way for the relief of the 101st Airborne Division.


Which reminds me again why I don’t watch network television . . .

~~JD~~

Is It October Already?

Man, it's hard to tell down here. The daytime temperature's still in the 90's -- the nighttime has finally dipped into the 60's -- which is nice. It reminds me what I'm missing -- which isn't that much. Ariane & I have talked about driving up to the Hill Country to see the leaves change the last 4 years -- and still haven't done it.

Not really likely to, either.

My personal dream would be to retire to the Virgin Islands. This sunlit, warm, happy little territory of the USA is a year-round 78 degrees with balmy tradewinds constantly. It also (being something of a territory) manages to not have any Income Taxes -- always a big plus. It boasts two hospitals and three dialysis clinics, so we'd never want for work, certainly. It's far enough east (one time zone east of New York City, anyway) that it rarely gets hurricanes -- the last one was Hurricane Hugo in 1990. The major industry is tourism -- it's a major stopover for Cruise Ships. The average median income $14,500.00, so cost of living is low.

I could learn to love it. Quickly. And I still remember my great-grandpa Albright's lessons on how to fish -- and clean the fish.

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I had a fascinating conversation with a friend earlier this week. He's one of those people who's had an NDE -- a Near-Death Experience. He and I were comparing our relative hard times recently, and he's had the added fun experience of his wife asking for a divorce as well. So we're comparing notes, and in the process of all this he tells me of his NDE -- how he went to heaven, saw God, and how it changed it life.

At all of six years old.

Honestly, if he wasn't one of my best friends who I've known for years, I'd have thought he was off his rocker.

So we're talking at length, and he tells me -- "Actually, I'm kind of suicidal."

Huh? "Sure you are. Quit yanking my chain, bub."

"No, really, JD. If I could figure out a way to do it and still go to heaven, I'd kill myself right now."


Quiet pause. "Really?"

He pauses back, to the point I thought maybe the phone connection was lost. "Really, JD." He pauses again, and i can hear the choke creeping into his voice. "You have no idea how much I want to go home -- to my real home. It's time like this I miss it so much. I feel like a complete failure, even though I know in my heart it's just another test of faith. But I . . . I just get so tired."

I had to regroup a little here. "Y'know, you're scaring me here, babe. Tell me you're not going to do anything to yourself."

"Aw, HELL no. Suicide is the ultime expression of self-interest -- of self-hatred. It's completely against the will of God, man. That's why a suicide can't enter Heaven -- and that's why I'd never do it. I've been there, man, and I wanna go back so bad I can taste it."

Okay, a little convoluted, but I understood the reasoning. Sort of. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Hell if I know. She promised me when we got engaged she'd never divorce me, but she's the one asking now. I think I'm just not going to do anything. She wants the divorce -- she can pay for it. I won't agree to it, and it will cost her a lot of money. I'll ask for custody -- maybe that will change her mind. We'll see."


Divorce by passive resistance. That's a new one.

~~JD~~