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It Can Happen Here
John R. Woodward
JOHN R. WODWARD M.S.W.
is a clinical social worker and freelance writer
in Tallahasse, FL., USA.
He works for Community Dialysis Centers of America, Inc.ABRIDGED FROM
The Ragged Edge:
The Disability Experience from the Pages
of The Disability Rag
Edited by Barrett Shaw
American doctors once conducted an experiment that proved you can kill the disabled babies of poor families and get away with it. Their research was funded by the Federal Government. Twenty-four babies with spina bifida lost their lives.
The experiment was declared a success. Yes, it can happen here.
Between 1977 and 1982, four doctors and a social
worker at the Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma,
Oklahoma
City, monitored the births of babies with (spina bifida). Parents who were poor were told
that it would not be appropriate to treat their baby and given an extremely pessimistic
picture of their child’s future life. Parents from better-off families were told more
about the treatments for spina bifida and given more optimistic – and more accurate
– information about their child’s potential.
None of the parents knew they were part of an experiment. Parents who were assigned to the "pessimistic outcome" group chose, by a factor of five to one, not to have their babies treated… The goal of the experiment was to prove that the families would accept a "do-not-treat" recommendation from their doctors.
It was no coincidence that the babies who died were the children of poor parents. To select the families for the "pessimistic outcome group," the doctors conducting the study developed a formula which they published as part of their write-up of the experiment in Pediatrics, the most famous and influential medical journal devoted to the care of children. This is their "formula": Quality of life = Natural Endowment multiplied by the contribution of the Home plus the contribution of Society.