'The Good Doctor' Season 3 Episode 15 Preview: Is Shaun right to use a child for an experimental procedure?
Doctors might be known for working miracles on patients, solving some of the most unsolvable and impossible health conditions, but there are no guarantees of success for every case. Even with the most brilliant minds like the ones at San Jose St Bonaventure Hospital, one cannot assure a 100% success ratio. We have all seen that.
This becomes a serious point of contention when a 10-year-old boy is brought in by his parents. He has damaged his larynx and is unable to speak.
Looking at his condition, Shaun proposes an experimental treatment — creating a larynx with bones and cartilage. It’s akin to creating an entire organ. Calling it an experiment is an understatement. It is as good as being god.
As the promo of episode 'Unsaid' shows, Shaun feels for the little boy's handicap, which we know, comes from his own experience of being challenged. Somewhere, he doesn't want the boy to go through what he went through. That is why, even when the boy's parents insist on avoiding the surgery, Shaun pushes them by saying, "He will always be limited. He will not have friends."
This clearly is a takeaway from Shaun's own life where he has experienced social seclusion and lack of associations owing to his autistic conditions. As a doctor, he clearly does not want that for another kid. However, the surgery he is proposing has never been done, not at least at that hospital, and that poses a huge risk on the patient.
Take a look at what's coming in the next episode.
What bothers us here, as the ones on the receiving end of medical treatment, is the question if this is a fair act on the part of a surgeon?
It might be a noble thought to help a child get his voice, but using a young patient as a subject of an experiment does not sound right. After all, there is no guarantee on the outcome of such an experiment and there are chances of failure. In that case, any side effect or after effect could harm the patient more.
However, for now, we can only hope that the "good doctors" do their best.
'The Good Doctor' airs every Monday night, 10pm/9c, only on ABC.