Healthcare Ethic-1

Ethical Decision Making: And The Band Played ON

Ethical principles are the basis for ethical decision making. Principles like beneficence, reparation, nonmalefience, mercy, patient autonomy, veracity, justice and fidelity are the backbone of making good ethical decisions. Throughout the movie there are two main characters that represent ethical and unethical acts and/or decisions.

"And The Band Played On" is an example of this continual struggle. This occurs on both ends of the ethics spectrum. Dr. Robert Gallo, Alan Alda, and Dr. Don Francis, Matthew Modine, are the focus of his struggle between ethical and unethical decision making, respectively. This is a never-ending fight that, in the end, no one side seems to win at the cost of hundreds of lives.

Gallo and Francis do battle throughout the entire movie. Their conflict is Gallo wanting personal achievement and Francis wanting nothing more than justice. Gallo cares only about his fame and internationally acclaimed reputation. Francis, on the other end of the spectrum, is simply trying to fight the virus. Francis, working for the Center for Disease Control (CDC), dedicates himself to identifying and isolating the disease that is tearing through the gay community across the country. Desperate to locate the unknown disease, Francis works alongside the French doctors and scientists, who are also trying to understand, identify and isolate the unknown disease. Gallo losses his patience and refuses to work with Francis because Francis chooses to help and assist in the efforts of the successful French.

Dr. Robert Gallo, a pompous ass, continually seeks out public recognition for his medical efforts while working at The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. It is a fact that Gallo is a doctor that is well respected and of high esteem. His inability to act ethically brings him constant tension and into conflict with the medical community. Gallo takes all the credit for discovering the retrovirus that...