I've got some resources both for getting ahold of Dax resources, and pop
cinema dealing with medical paternalism.
(1) Here are some links to information about videos and a Routledge
multimedia CD-Rom regarding Dax Cowart.
Routledge Multimedia CD-Rom including clips of interviews from "Dax's Case"
("A Right to Die? The Dax Cowart Case"):
http://www.routledge.com/indepth/dax_main.html
Literature and Medicine Database
(Info on "Dax's Case", including video source at Concern For Dying):
http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webfilms/dax.s.case11
4-film-.html
Literature and Medicine Database
(Info on short version, "Please Let Me Die", including video source):
http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/webdocs/webfilms/please.let.m
e.die105-film-.html
Partnership for Caring
(Info on ordering videos about death and dying, including the classic "Dax's
Case"):
http://www.partnershipforcaring.org/Store/videos_content.html
(2) As regards pop films about medical paternalism, I found this 1998 review
of just such a thing: http://www.med.mun.ca/munmed/103/CRELLIN.htm
The beginning of Patch Adams also has some bits that may be useful re:
paternalism, although it quickly devolves into saccharine idealism:
http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=556&reviewer=79
And, of course, there's "W;t", the great and very readable play by Margaret
Edson, adapted into a fine film by HBO Studios starring Emma Thompson.
That's available on VHS and DVD through Amazon, and probably at your local
video store. The bioethicsl issues related to paternalism are, according to
Nicole Smith, http://web.carroll.edu/msmillie/bioethics/movierecs.htm:
"This movie is about a woman who uses her wit as a defense mechanism during
her
battle with ovarian cancer. The main bioethical issues seen in this movie
deal with paternalism vs. autonomy. The doctor's see this woman as a
research project, and very persuasively "tell" her what to do. Although she
does consent to the harsh experimental treatment, she does so with hopes of
recovering. She later finds out that the doctors knew all along that she
would not survive the cancer, but they wanted to see if a person could
survive all 8 full-dose treatments of chemotherapy. In the end, she decides
to have a DNR code, even though the doctor's want to keep her alive as long
as possible for their research."
I hope this has been helpful.
Best,
Alison Crane
----- Original Message -----
From: "Adrianne McEvoy" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: Movie with paternalist issues?
> Does anyone know where I can find/order/borrow a copy of the Dax tape - I
have wanted to use it for a medical ethics course for several years now, but
nobody seems to know where I can find a copy (the one I saw, years ago, has
long since been lost)
> Thanks,
>
> Adrianne McEvoy, Ph.D.
> Philosophy Department
> 2 Plassmann Hall
> St. Bonaventure University
> St. Bonaventure, NY 14778
