Tuesday, October 31, 2006

an apology by the president

Recently i saw this profoundly moving story about the 'manipulation' of African American for a medical study. It was very moving , and even so, I think that the nurse, Miss Evers I believe, shld resign from her post immediately once she feels something is wrong. She knows what is happening around, she just dunno the ethical/moral standards pegged to the society as a whole.
She has did a 'great' job yes, but she as a nurse should do more than that. Look at Florence Nightangle and her way of caring for her patients' wellbeing.

I'm sure Singapore nurses are a great professional team too, are caring too. How far would they step out of their boundaries? Would they know the 'line'?

Look at this apology abstract i took out of http://clinton4.nara.gov/textonly/New/Remarks/Fri/19970516-898.html:

The President, Bill Clinton :

The eight men who are survivors of the syphilis study at Tuskegee are a living link to a time not so very long ago that many Americans would prefer not to remember, but we dare not forget. It was a time when our nation failed to live up to its ideals, when our nation broke the trust with our people that is the very foundation of our democracy. It is not only in remembering that shameful past that we can make amends and repair our nation, but it is in remembering that past that we can build a better present and a better future. And without remembering it, we cannot make amends and we cannot go forward.
So today America does remember the hundreds of men used in research without their knowledge and consent. We remember them and their family members. Men who were poor and African American, without resources and with few alternatives, they believed they had found hope when they were offered free medical care by the United States Public Health Service. They were betrayed.
Medical people are supposed to help when we need care, but even once a cure was discovered, they were denied help, and they were lied to by their government. Our government is supposed to protect the rights of its citizens; their rights were trampled upon. Forty years, hundreds of men betrayed, along with their wives and children, along with the community in Macon County, Alabama, the City
of Tuskegee, the fine university there, and the larger African American community.
The United States government did something that was wrong -- deeply, profoundly, morally wrong. It was an outrage to our commitment to integrity and equality for all our citizens.
To the survivors, to the wives and family members, the children and the grandchildren, I say what you know: No power on Earth can give you back the lives lost, the pain suffered, the years of internal torment and anguish. What was done cannot be undone. But we can end the silence. We can stop turning our heads away. We can look at you in the eye and finally say on behalf of the American people, what the United States government did was shameful, and I am sorry. (Applause.)
The American people are sorry -- for the loss, for the years of hurt. You did nothing wrong, but you were grievously wronged. I apologize and I am sorry that this apology has been so long in coming. (Applause.)
....
The people who ran the study at Tuskegee diminished the stature of man by abandoning the most basic ethical precepts. They forgot their pledge to heal and repair. They had the power to heal the survivors and all the others and they did not. Today, all we can do is apologize. But you have the power, for only you -- Mr. Shaw, the others who are here, the family members who are with us in Tuskegee -- only you have the power to forgive. .....

End of abstract.


It's really something that i can look on to in terms of ethics in research. I gained a valuable insight.

Posted by cheng at 9:04 PM

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

i miss my blog..

oh dear .. so long never update my blog le.. maybe don't have the habit of rambling on n on.
gg to my concert for performance todae. Mei you na ge qi fen lei... I miss those times 2 years ago.. hopefully we can inprove on it at music camp. I need to sell my things . Taking up too much space at home. I can't sell them. test on thurs... goodness gracious... studied but dunno what I'm studying. My house is in a bad mess now. need to clear up before flies come in. need to go now.. need my ZzZzz badly. n Mooie! I MISS U!!!!!

Posted by cheng at 9:07 AM