Biology Is Life !

Oh my my, look who beat Anna and Miss LeChase at the blog. Kat! Thats right!


If I was Lorenzo's parent, I would keep him in the hospital because I believe that it is not my choice to choose when my child dies. It is not his choice, or the doctors choice either. When he is ready to die, and god or whatever is ready to take him, he would go then. I could never kill my own child and yes, I see that as murder. I see this in Lorenzo's oil when his mother refuses to let her son die but prays to the lord that he will take him if he is going to suffer. I think Lorenzo's parents were right because killing anyone, even if you are putting them out of misery is murder and murder is wrong. Simple as that.

now when does a patient become a lab rat? I do not know because it has never happened to me. I believe when the medicine (meaning doctors, nurses, and treatments) Stop working but the doctors continue the treatment that is causing the patient to get sicker is when the switch happens. when the doctors stop helping the patient is when the treatment starts harming more than it is helping. In Lorenzo's oil I see this when the diet of no fats is given to him and they know its hurting him more by the 4th month but they continue to push it onto him and finish the experiment. That is wrong in my opinion.
 

A patient becomes a "lab rat" if the tests being done are experimental (if it's a new study) and when doctors are holding meetings to discuss the effects on the patient. The parents who took their children off the medicine and let them die were correct in that they were looking out for their children, while Lorenzo's parents seemed to keep him alive only for themselves.

If I was in this situation, I don't know what I would do. If the discontinuation of my child's medicine let them die peacefully, I would do that. I would be looking out for my kid.

I made these decisions with my child's sake in mind-not my own. It is hard to understand what Lorenzo's parents are going through, and it is a very difficult decision under that kind of pressure.
 

HELMANNS MAYONNAISE JamES i think u could only be considered a lab rat if you were being treated 4 something u dont have or for something that was given 2 u for the purpose of the test.if no one has a treatment.testing on patients that have no help at all seems ok.i dont think you should ever kill someone because there in pain.people can recover .even if they cant talk they might still think . they might also dream. it is extrmely bad to kill someone even if they are suffering.if i was in lorenzos parents situation i would keep fighting .i wouldnt stop until he recovered or passed away.i would hate to see my kid suffer but not enough to end his life on earth.i agree with kat. i dont think the diet should have been pushed on him if it wasnt working.i would keep him alive becase not doing that is basically murder.they still think and have dreams . even if they cant talk . even if we think they are braindead we cant know for sure.
 

Woot! I'm number four! Anyway...
I really don't know when a patient becomes a lab rat. Maybe when a patient is like the first to recieve some untesed treatment...I don't know. Also, I don't have an opinion for who's argument was right. I think that it's just a matter of personal beliefs. If I were a parent with an ALD child...I think I'd try to let them live, because I know that any tests run on them would help other children with ALD.
I think that in Lorenzo's Oil, Lorenzo's parents were correct in trying to help other children with ALD, as opposed to letting lorenzo die.
 

Well I think that once the experimental treatment is obviously not working and the patient is worse than before they started the treatment and the doctor keep at it then the patient turns from being helped to becoming a lab rat. I don’t know what I would do in this situation and I think both parents are right. The parents who want the child to die peacefully are just doing what they think is right in not making their child suffer. On the other hand the parents that want there child to live and take medicine they also have a right to do that because they want to believe that their child will get better and there’s hope for them. Well now knowing that there is such thing as a treatment, Lorenzo’s Oil, and my child wasn’t in the advanced stages of ALD I would definitely continue treatment. Otherwise I don’t think I would keep my child on treatment but I really don’t know because I have never and hope to never have to experience something like that. I said what I said because that’s what I feel. My opinion relates to the movie because I saw what determined parents achieved they not only saved their child’s life but saved millions of others children’s lives.
 

wow... i responded late this week
congrats kat lol

Task One: I think that Lorenzo becomes a lab rat when the doctor refuses to allow other people having ALD to use the same treatment that was helping Lorenzo. I think that it shows his parents that they were willing to risk Lorenzo’s life for the treatment.

I think that it is horrible for anyone to tell you to take your child off medication and watch them die. No one has the right to tell you when it is time for you to let go of your child. I think that if my child were diagnosed with the disease I would fight for my child’s life also. What if a cure is developed after you let your child die? Could you live with yourself knowing that if you allowed your child to be kept on their meds for only a little longer they would have had some form of a life?

If my child was sick I would do anything in my power to keep them alive. To me I don’t see how anything associated with death is peaceful. I would want my child to have a chance.

Task Two: In my opinion, I think that Lorenzo’s parents did the right thing. I mean I wouldn’t be able to take a loved one off their meds if they had some chance, no matter how bad the odds were. It is still your child. I give Lorenzo’s parents a lot of credit; they dealt with watching their child fall apart and then did everything in their power to save him.
 

I think a patient turns to being hurt when the doctors are keeping a suffering person alive for the purpouse of studying them.

As for the second question, its hard. If my child knew what was going on around him, then I would give him the medicine. However, if they were just a vegetable, there is absolutley no reason to let them suffer. To respond to Kat, It is not murder if he is just trapped inside of his body. What kind of life is it?

I would keep my child in the hospital to see if the treatments would work. If they don't i would bring him home to let him die peacefully. That must be the hardest decision for a parent to make. However if your kid is suffering, it would be selfish to keep them alive.

This topic is very touchy because it also depends on the severity of the illness. Most likely I'd try to help my child as much as a possiably can, but I also have to know how to let him go.
 

I believe that the patient becomes a "lab rat" when doctors or experts start new procedures or methods. If whatever they're doing is new and has just been thought up, it may not be good for the patient. Also, if the doctors don't really care for the child and is just keeping him alive just to try more studies on him.

I think that Lorenzo's parents were right, because no one wants to see their child suffering. Lorenzo's parents did the right thing by fighting to find a medicine or cure to ALD. The parents who gave up on the medication would eventually see that the child is going through even more. And if they're taken off the medication, they'll just suffer and die, which no one would ever want to see that happen. Lorenzo's parents were right in the end anyway, because they finally found a medication for children with ALD to take that's effective. Because of their research, they kept not only Lorenzo from dying, but also maybe hundreds of other kids.

If I had a child with ALD, I would keep him in the hospital and see what I could do for him. I would never want to have a child of mine die because of just giving up. Besides, there's no true peace in dying.
 

Thanks to everyone for helping with my science fair project and missing some of the movie!!! :]

Alright, so I think a patient becomes a lab rat (or bunny, or guinea pig, or monkey, or cat, or dog, or... etc. ^^)when doctors are blindly testing different treatments without a clue as to which will work or not.

I'm not sure who is right and who isn't right when it comes to choosing life or death. It is all based on personal beliefs and no one is really right or wrong.

Now, if my kid had ALD, it would definitely be a difficult decision. I would talk the matter over with my child (if possible) and reach a decision that way. However, if I came to a decision on my own that I would keep my child alive no matter what, I would give each and every one of you permission to slap me across the face and call me names and say that I was selfish, because it isn't my life in question. (Whoa, lots of different tenses in there .__.) I came to this decision because I looked at what Lorenzo's parents did and saw what they did constructively and destructively (keeping him alive to help others with ALD and keeping him alive because they couldn't bear to see him die).
 

I think that the patient goes from getting medical attention for themselves to just being a research object when the doctor give lectors about you and uses you ( in person) for a diagram. This to me is wrong because human beings that are sick should not be shown off to a whole room and explained unless the patient does not mind. Personally i would mind being a human posterboard for a whole bunch of students.

Now if you are a parent of a sick child, then it is your desicion. There is no right or wrong answer for this question. It is whatever the parent feel is best for THEIR children. Personally i would not want my child to suffer but...... i dont have a human being that i love that much. A parents love towards their child is unique. I have never felt that type of love so i can not positively say what i would do.

Like i said before, i do not know what i would do if my child had some incurable disease. I mean i would try to do the best thing for MY child, with only my child in mind.
 

Hmmm... This is a tough one for me. If we were to take patients off of their treatments just because we don't know if they will work and let them die peacefully, then we would never get anywhere. I do believe however, that there is a certain point at which we should call it quits. I think that in some cases it is okay to test out new medicines or procedures and in some cases it is definitely not okay. If they were going through a lot of agony then we should let them go. If I were a parent, I would try to keep my child alive for as long as possible, and let the doctors conduct tests on them. The sooner more parents allow this the sooner the doctors can find a cure. If I saw that my child was going through too much pain, I would say enough is enough. I'm not exactly sure where I would draw the line in regards to when patients become lab rats. Each case is unique. While we were watching the movie, I have to admit that I thought that Lorenzo's parents were going a little too far, but then Lorenzo survived so I guess all that paid off. I think that some of the other parents could have tried harder, but I probably would have given up on Lorenzo, so they were both kind of right.
 

Let me start by saying..Thank goodness Lorenzo didn't die because I'd be crying like crazy if he did.

Anyway...

1. I think that a patient turns from being helped to being a lab rat when the experiments and treatments are no longer helpful. I think that as long as the procedures are helping to cure the patient, then they are still considered a patient. If the methods, however, are not helping, or maybe even harming, the patient they are becoming a lab rat.

2. In my opinion, Lorenzo's parents were right to keep fighting for his life. I mean..it obviously paid off because Lorenzo has lived a life which no one thought he would have. I feel that by 'letting your child die peacefully' you are wasting their life. I understand that no parent wants to see their child suffer, but if it means that they will be able to live a life of their own then I think it's all worth it in the end.

3. If my child had Adrenoluekodystrophy (ALD), I would continue to fight for them. I know that it is obviously hard for any parent when they're faced with a situation like that, but I think that by letting the child die "peacefully" you are giving up. I think that by continually fighting to find a cure, develop a treatment, or do anything productive in fighting the disease, you are improving upon not only the life of your child, but of all the children who suffer from the disease.


Science Fair tomorrow..see ya'll there!!! woohoo! :)
 

I think the Patients are being turned into lab rats when the doctors medicine and diets are making their diseases worse. I think lorenzos parents were right because they helped lorenzo live long enough to get a medicine that brought down the fat levels. I think if it was my child i would continue the treatment only if it was helping him. This would be my decision becaue i would want to make sure my child stayed as long as possible because i would hope they might find a cure. I think i would do the same thing that lorenzos parents did.
 

Jessica Woeckener said....

Good job Kat at beating them. lol.

Okay well here's the deal i think there is a fine line between helping a patient and using them as a lab rat. I think that if the medication or whatever the doctor is giving the patient to get better isnt working but they say "its to early to tell" like in Lorenzo's Oil then you are now officially a lab rat. I think Lorenzo was a lab rat with the diet cuz it wasnt working but they wanted to test it to see if it was.

I think that if someone is suffering then it should be up to the parents to allow them to die or not. I think that in Lorenzo's case it was hard to say cuz he was suffereing but they did cure him aventaully. I think that if it was my first child who ahd that i would try as ahrd as i could to cure him but i dont think i would have been able to let my child suffer for any longer than two years like Lorenzo. It would be the hardest decision i would ever have to make as a person.

If my child had ALD i dont know what i would do. I think i would after trying EVERYTHING if nothing could cure him then i would let him die. That is only if nothing could be done! I would not keep my child at home though i would have him stay at a hospital so he could recieve the right amount of care. I would probably move into thehospital myself cuz i wouldnt leave my child alone.

Well I had fun =) byeee
 

Okay first of all... I totally agree with amanda... if he had died.. I don't know what I would have done...


1. When does a patient turn from being helped to becoming a lab rat?
Well, I would say when the doctors and scientists continually test different, new methods on saving the patient, and when the patient is suffering and basically nothing else can be done to help them. I don't believe that Lorenzo was a lab rat because he was conscious the entire time, and he was aware of what was happening.

2. Who is right and why are they right?
Well it really depends on your opinion. If there is really nothing else anyone can do and everyone has lost hope, then yes it is most likely a possible solution to the problem. However, in Lorenzo's case, his parents had not lost all hope, and Lorenzo stayed contious the entire time. In his case, I would keep the child on the meds because it is possible for the child to live a life later on, maybe not totally recovered, but somewhat.

3. If your child was sick with Adrenoleukodystrophy, (ALD) and was suffering, what would you do? Me, personally, I am not one to give up. I always try to stay optimistic about situations. In this case, if my child were suffering, I would most likely try to save them. I would do my best to comfort them, and probably keep them in the hospital. However, if they got to a point where there are no chances for survival, depending on how the doctors feel about it, I may or may not pull the plug. In Lorenzo's case, his parents, especially his mother, stayed very optimistic. Both of his parents went out of their way to find a cure for ALD. They stayed with him the entire time and talked him through it.


-------------JQJQ =]=]
 

a patient becomes a lab rat when doctors sort of just try anything on them and when the parents or person have no control over what they are doing. but also these doctors are trying to find a cure for whatever it is they are testing so like it is a good thing to do because if it works you will know that you helped figure out a cure or a way of lessening something. if it doesnt work then i mean, you tried. i dont know.
Lorenzo's parents and the other parents both did the right thing. Even though the parents let their child die, they did it out of loving them, not letting them suffer and get worse. its something thats can go either way, however you look at it. Lorenzos parents were one of the lucky people who helped figure out a way to save their child and the many other kids with ALD. its all done with love, whether they fought to keep their child to stay alive or respected their child and not let them suffer.
If my child was suffering from ALD i would keep going with all the testing and treatments, i would do anything for my kid to live and stay alive. i don't think i could ever just let someone die, no matter what.

i made my decisions and chose what i did because i would do anything for my child to stay alive. i would probably even give them my own if i could and if they had to suffer. i would have probably been the same way as the parents in lorenzo's oil were. i would try anything and everything and try to help figure out how we can help my kid. its something that i hope to never go through and you really can't say too much if you've never been in the situation. but yeah, i'd prob. do anything to save my child.
 

I think a patient becomes a lab rat when he is being tested for unsure remedies.

I think the parents are right to take there kids off the medicine because then they and their child dont have to suffer.

I would let my child die peacefully if there was no hope.

The reason I chose these answers is because its what I would do because if I were Lorenzos parent I wouldnt be able to se my child suffer.
 

Q1: the line between help and becoming an experiment should be drawn by the patient and his or her family. If a new medication is being tested that can save lives, then I'm sure many people would be willing try it. If the patient doesn't want to be tested on or studied, they have that right.

Q2: Both Families have reasons for their decisions, and it is a very hard question. On one hand, you don't want your child to die, but at the same time, you want everyone's suffering to end. again, this should be decided by the family, and no one else.

Q3: I would probably continue treatments and testing, mainly to help the cause. when he degenerated to a certain point, then I would have to pull the plug and let him pass.
 

I have to agree with kashoo (i always thought it was cashew owell i like this version better) a patient becomes a lab rat when they are being treated and there is no knowledge of what the results will be or when they are used as a living example at meetings. i also have to agree with kat and kashoo in a cross. i believe that God is the only one who can rightfully choose when it is your time to dye. but at the same time if your child is really suffering then life is no longer a joy to them and then i think even if it is wrong (which i believ that it is) it is also right to relieve them of their pain.
and lastly if my child had ALD i wold fight for them until they got to the point in their life where they were unable to enjoy it and then well then i think as i said before you have arrived at a hard crossroads and i dont really know what i would do. i would coninue to fight though for future kids even if my child did dye of ALD.
 

10 March 2007
 

1. i think a patient turns into more of a lab rat when the method being used by a doctor to cure the disease actually makes it worse. If the medication isnt helping in any way..they should stop the use of it right away, not continue w. it just to find the negative effects.



2. well i sort of think both of these sides are ethical. in this area..i prob agree w. banana....if the child is aware of what is going on around them, i def would not let them die. however, if the child was a vegetabnle of a person, i think thats true suffering, and i would let them die in peace.



3. If my child was sick with Adrenoleukodystrophy, and was suffering, i would prob keep them in the hospital as long as possible so they could recieve adequet medical care. but i would only do that for so long...i mean if the meds werent wworking and i couldnt find a cure..i would take him home and let him die peacefully. although it would be a heartbreaking decision, it would be the right thing to do rather than make him suffer for a longer amount of time.
 

ok sorry that it is late. I tried sending it fri and sat and my comp was flippin out.

Anyways i think that i would say that patients become lab rats when the doctors have exhausted all of their options and cant find a cure, they start experimenting on the patient, to see what can help future patients of the disease.

I think that Lorenzo's parents made the right decision because everyone deserves a chance to live. But i guess that if the child is totally brain dead, deaf, and blind then i guess that it would right to let them die peacefully.

If i had a child with ALD, i would fight for my kids right to live. i would just like Lorenzo's parents, do everything that i can to help.
 

oops sorry about it being late..
I would have to say that if I were Lorenzo's parent, I would try to keep him alive as long as he looked like he had a chance of a normal life. If he became deaf, blind, mute, and immobile, I think it's pretty selfish to keep him alive and suffering just because it would hurt so much to let him die, like Anna said. But that doesn't mean I would just forget about it, I would probably try to find a cure for it, like Lorenzo's parents did.
I think the patient becomes a lab rat after the doctors stop caring for the patients prognosis and start caring only about their research, and finishing the experiment. Also, when they start bringing patients in as a teaching tool for students, like in Lorenzo's oil. That's cruel, using someone else's pain as a project or a test. Also, in Lorenzo's oil, when the doctors wouldn't listen to reason, or any ideas other than their own, I think that was pretty low of the doctors,and showed how little they actually cared about finding a legitimate cure.
 

I really do not have a good idea on this because this has never happened to me, but I think it gets too far when patients under go all of these 'experimental' studies that could possibly help but could end up hurting them more. And also when the patient, such as Lorenzo, is brought in and discussed in a medical lecture and used a model.


This is a tough question for me. I would love for the medicine to help my child, but I do not want to see them possibly die a painful death. I might keep my child on the medicine for a while longer, but if its hurting more than helping, I would stop treatment.


I think that I would have my child in the hospital because I don't know if I could handle spending most of my time giving my child medical care when I'm not an expert and do not understand the disease as well as a doctor. I would keep my child on treatments and testings because I would not be able to give up as easily as some others and would want to do everything in my power to keep my child alive, but I do think that there is a point where you know that your kid is just not able to pull through this and you have to let go. I would not do this easily, but if this situation arose I'd stop the testings and treatment and let my child die in peace.

There's always that question in your mind though... "Did I do the right thing or did I do what I wanted?"
 

sorry about it being so late.. I've been preoccupied with science fair stuff
 

I think that a person becomes a lab rat when they are only for the "furthering of science". I tihnk that Lorenzo's parents were right because they found a cure. I would fight for their life becuse they are a human being.
 

1. At some point in all experimental treatments the medical industry crosses the line. When does a patient turn from being helped to becoming a lab rat?

I'm writing on no sleep, so forgive me if it doesn't sound like the usual me.

If scientists went around chasing every lead that popped up, the medical industry would be chaotic. I understand that scientists want to maintain the integrity of their experiment. In addition, it must also be understood that no matter how heartwrenching a slow and painful death from a rare disease is, the research is much better spent on cancer than something that affects 200 people worldwide.

2. Lorenzo was sick but his parents kept him fighting for his life in his hospital while other families took their children off of their medication and let them die, saying that they did the right thing by not letting their child suffer for the rest of their lives. Who is right and why are they right?

Neither of them is right. All parents make the decisions they believe is best for the child, and we have no place to sit at our computers and tell them that their choice was wrong, that they could have saved him if they hadn't been so foolish.

3. If your child was sick with Adrenoleukodystrophy, (ALD) and was suffering, what would you do? Would you keep your child in the hospital and continue the treatment and testing’s? Or would you let your child die “peacefully”?

I would most likely give him the medicine.

If there were to be none, I'd let the doctors test him, hoping that it would help future generations who have it, if I know that the end is inevitable. If he were earlier in the disease, I'd quit my job and care for him myself and help find a cure.
 

Alright so this stinks that I could not access this site because my computer was down.

1. I patient becomes a lab rat when new medicine and trials are performed on the patient. I normal patient would be taking medicines that already have been proven to help. Lab rats arise when the medicine being administered has not been tested and the side effects and results are unsure of.

2. I think that in this case, Lorenzo's parents were right. They had the passion to find a cure for their son and did everything in their power to try and help him. Because of Lorenzo's parents, their son was able to recover a little bit and a new cure was found to help other boys with ALD in the future.

3. If my child was sick with ALD, I think that I would let my child die peacefully. I cannot take seeing people suffer especially if they are relatives and family.

4. I chose my opinions from the viewpoint of creating less harm to my child if I had one with ALD. It must have been very stressing for Lorenzo's parents but they had the courage to persist and find a new medicine for ALD.
 

1.medical industrys cross the line when all they do is try to see which experaments might help but they just try the same experaments over and over.

2. Both sides are right becase if parents didnt want their son to suffer from ALD and they didnt think their son stood a chance in surviving then it was right to take them off their medicine and let them die peacefully. One the other hand if parents new that their child might have a chance in surviving then it was good to leave them on their medicine.

3. Well if I had a child suffering Im sry to say but i would probably let my child die peacefully because I wouldnt want them to suffer for the rest of their life by not being able to talk or walk or hear,etc.

Well I came to my decissions because I have an autistic cousin who is also deph and its hard for her to communicate and if I had a son with ALD then i would think its 100 times worse.
 

a patient becomes a lab rat when the doctors believe they can't do any more for the patient, & use the patient to study the disease

I believe there is no true answer for the 2nd question. i believe you should let the patient decide this.

as i said earlier, i would ask my child to choose, because i believe it's their choice. I would support them in their decision in any way possible.

in the movie, if i'm not mistaken, lorenzo's parents chose to do the same thing
 

If i were Lorenzos parents i would keep him in the hospital on the treatment. I believe he will get better and pray to god my child will be alright. I would NEVER kill my child. Its just wrong and terrible. I think Lorenzos parents did the right thing by keeping him on the oil. The believed in him and made it threw. By pushing him hurt him more and more .. but in the end they had made a success for other children in the world. What they did was amanzing.