Dangers of Physicians Practicing on Their Families

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Dangers of Physicians Practicing on their Families
In most cases, people count on their families to help when they get sick. The best thing about family members is that they are reliable and can take care of one of them when an individual is ill. However, more love can be dangerous, especially for physicians practicing with their families. Mothers’ unending love for their children can lead to overprotection and micromanaging when they get sick, which can become unhealthy at some point. In particular, due to their strong attachment to their young ones, mothers can do anything to protect their children. For example, in Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, Dr. Pauline Whittier is Maddy’s mother. Maddy has a rare illness known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), which she calls “bubble baby disease” (Yoon 15). The role of Maddy’s mother as the primary doctor makes it increasingly challenging for her to give her daughter the freedom she needs to interact with other people. Maddy believes that she is allergic to the world, which limits all her interactions with others and her social life. Dr. Pauline Whittier’s attachment issue makes her convince Maddy that she has a life-threatening disease through professional behavior and manipulates her so that she does not discover the truth.
Since Dr. Pauline Whittier is the primary doctor, she limits her daughter’s freedom to interact with others. Specifically, she makes Maddy believe that she is “allergic to allergic to the world” (Yoon 15). On the one hand, it can be perceived that Dr. Pauline Whittier was doing something good in trying to prolong her daughter’s life. Almost all mothers are concerned when it comes to the well-being of their children. They sacrifice numerous things to ensure that their young ones get the best lives. In this light, Maddy’s medical condition made it challenging for her to live like other children. That might explain why her mother did everything to ensure that she is protected from things that might deteriorate her health. Limiting Maddy’s freedom to interact with friends and other things appears to be the most convenient thing to protect her. Dr. Pauline Whittier had gone to an extent of hiring a full-time nurse, Carla, who was responsible for taking and recording Maddy’s vitals, such as blood pressure. Maddy’s home had been converted into a hospital to avoid all things that might worsen her health condition.
After Maddy was diagnosed with SCID, her mother sets limits to her freedom since she perceived that going outside might deteriorate her health condition. In particular, a SCID is a rare illness caused by gene mutations, which are involved in the growth and development of cells that fight against infections. Individuals with SCID are susceptible to severe infections. In other words, when one has SCID, anything can trigger various sicknesses, including food, chemicals in cleaning detergents, perfume, and other things that one might come across. Maddy’s mother told her daughter that she almost died when she was an infant. For seventeen years, Maddy has stayed indoors and never left her house (Yoon 15). Her mother was there to ensure that she does not leave the house and that everything is sterilized to avoid triggering SCID. On that note, it means that Maddy did not interact with anyone outside her house apart from his mother and Carla. She had no social life since Dr. Pauline Whittier made her believe that she might get severe illnesses or might die if she attempted to move outside or invite friends to her house. Maddy’s mother made her daughter believe that the primary objective was to keep her alive by limiting her freedom to avoid deteriorating her health condition.
The fear of losing Maddy significantly contributed to Dr. Pauline Whittier diagnosing her daughter with SCID to protect her from other conditions that might lead to various diseases. As described above, mothers are willing to do everything to ensure that their children grow and develop well without any health complications. Based on a specific study that was conducted using the contingent valuation method, it was noted that mothers are willing to pay to safeguard their children from suffering various diseases (Liu et al., 2000). In that light, Dr. Pauline Whittier appears to be a good and caring parent. However, the only adverse thing she did was to limit her daughter’s freedom such that she stayed alone in her house in the company of her mother and Carla. For children to grow and develop physically and mentally, they need to interact with others, the community, and their environment. However, Maddy was denied a chance to have friends and move outside, which might have adversely affected her physical, psychological, and mental well-being. Dr. Pauline Whittier’s fear to lose Maddy contributed to limiting her daughter’s freedom by diagnosing her with a disease that confined her to her house, where everything was done in a way to prevent possible infections.
Since childhood, Maddy never left her house since she believed that spending a few seconds outside might lead to her death. She was made to believe that interacting with other people is dangerous and that the only way Maddy can live longer is by staying indoors all the time. Dr. Pauline Whittier had restricted her daughter to create and maintain proper relationships since she was against anyone visiting Maddy in her house (Rahayu and Wulan 82). She had a strict medical protocol that Carla was required to comply with when taking care of her daughter. For example, Carla was required to take Maddy’s vitals regularly to see whether her medical condition was deteriorating or not. Maddy had been made to believe that she should always listen and adhere to her mother’s instructions so that she can live longer. However, at some point, she was lonely and needed a friend to share her life experience. Since Maddy liked reading novels, she hoped to get a friend whom she can discuss these books with and probably exchange some of them. However, it was challenging for Maddy to create and maintain a relationship since she did not want to compromise her already worse medical condition.
Dr. Pauline Whittier handled her daughter professionally, making Maddy believe that she is severely sick and need to stay indoors. Indeed, the doctor might have been very persuasive to make a young person believe that she was allergic to the world. Physicians should not treat themselves or immediate family members (AMA). From childhood to adolescence, Maddy had never made friends. She only interacted with her mother and Carla. Everything she touches, including the books are sterilized to avoid contamination. Dr. Pauline Whittier must have been very attached to her daughter to have made her believe that she had SCID. Despite the deep love of parents for their children, it is not right to restrain a young person from interacting with others and the world. Since Maddy’s mother was a doctor, she might have come up with strategies to allow her daughter to interact with other individuals of her age to avoid loneliness. Maddy’s illness was not enough reason to confine her in the house where no one apart from Dr. Pauline Whittier and Carla was allowed to enter.
Dr. Pauline Whittier perceives herself as a professional doctor, but her conflict of interest contributed to her deciding to control Maddy. For sure, it is right for a mother to be concerned about the well-being of her children. If it happens that a mother is a healthcare provider, it would be within her interest to protect the health of her young ones. However, it is wrong, immoral, and unethical for the mother to diagnose her child with a disease, such as SCID, due to her conflict of interest. Controlling every aspect of a child to keep her safe limits the young person’s mental and physical growth and development (Yoon 118). Besides, children should be brought up in a way that they can interact with others, the community, and the world. That way, it becomes easy for them to cope with things or situati...