Volume I No. 85
 07-08-03
 First Do No Harm
 { The Failed Attempt To Surgically Separate
   The Conjoined Twins, Laleh And Ladan Bajani }
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2003

 "First Do No Harm" 

 Those words come to us down through the ages. They reflect an 
 inviable code that medical doctors have lived by for millennia. So, 
 what then is one to make of the sad spectacle over in Singapore? 

 Laleh and Ladan Bajani { conjoined cranial twins } died on the 
 operating table during a well-intended, but medically-inappropriate 
 surgery to separate their skulls. An operation that would presumably 
 have allowed the two young 29 year-old Iranians to live separate and 
 independent lives. An unlikely prospect given that before the surgery, 
 doctors openly announced that the chance of a successful outcome
 for either young woman was less than fifty percent.

 That was an astounding admission by the medical minds involved.
 And perhaps no time will ever be the perfect time to criticize these 
 well-meaning and brilliant surgeons. But, how could such a surgery 
 have been allowed to take place with such an unlikelihood of success? 
 Did these same doctors, family, friends, and well-wishers allow their 
 emotions to leap ahead of their good sense?

 If so, then the deaths of Laleh and Ladan Bajani are an even greater 
 tragedy than otherwise. Medical doctors should never allow the 
 wishes of any patient to cloud their judgement.For surely the 
 surgery was more than a mere vanity effort? If not then the entire
 affair would be almost criminal. 

 Laleh and Ladan Bajani in all likelihood would have lived a normal 
 human lifespan. And who knows in maybe 10 or 15 years this surgery 
 could have been more reasonably contemplated. { despite the advancing
 ages of the two women } Although that is merely a suppositon. But 
 the reality is that brain surgery remains a far more risky undertaking 
 than say a heart transplant, or surgery on one of the other major 
 organs of the body. And that is for normally-formed human beings. 
 Not craniopagus twins. { twins joined at the head } The level of 
 competence is just not there right now.

 This whole episode reeks of bad medicine. And the fact that Laleh 
 and Laden expressly stated that they wanted the surgery to proceed 
 despite the risks. This declaration by the two young women should 
 have made the doctors more reluctant to perform the surgery. Not less 
 so. Were Laleh and Ladan in the end, a medical experiment? -- Again, 
 taking into consideration the prospect that they could have lived a
 normal lifespan.

 No one can possibly know the angst or the "what if's" that these two
 beautiful young twins lived with every moment of their lives. It was
 only human that they wanted to be independent and to live a more 
 normal existence. But medical practice can never be { or should never 
 be } about taking extraordinary and unusual risks with the lives of 
 otherwise healthy people. No matter how the heart is moved by the 
 possibility to do a good deed.

 Aren't our most well-educated surgeons taught to be above just the 
 kind of thing that took place half-way around the world?

 Admittedly, this is not a time for harsh-judgement. And maybe in the 
 end, Laleh and Ladan Bajani are in a better place. And suffering their 
 cruel fate no more. But those four words that were so appropriate in 
 Aristotle's time. Are no less so today.

 First Do No Harm.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2003

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