India Hospital Fire

http://news.yahoo.com/fire-indian-hospital-kills-89-staff-flees-150911718.html

So, for my last ethics article I noticed this terrible failure in ethical standards in the news today. Essentially what happened was that the hospital was not up to code, did not have adequate fire extinguishers, was not accessible to fire trucks. This is bad enough when a fire breaks out and there are many issues with the ethics of the hospital administrators for that (even though it is the social norm.) Beyond that is the issue of what happened at the actual fire.

According to the news, hospital administrators were the first to get out of the building when the fire happened. They did not even attempt to help those who were sick. Nurses and doctors left too. A few patients were helped, but according to the release nearly 90 died because they couldn't get out of the smoke. Many of them were in the hospital for minor issues, including one with an infection and another with only a sprained ankle.

I can totally imagine the script that ran through the admins heads. Alarm goes off, leave the building. Its probably not that big of a fire, maybe its just a drill right? I can see that none of the other hospitals had their buildings up to code either, this particular hospital was said to be one of the better ones.

But I can't see myself ever just leaving someone helpless in a burning building to die when I could get in there after them. I don't think the security guards could have stopped me either.

Read two articles today.
The first is a gross story about the Air Force dumping soldiers bodies in a landfill. The soldiers families had given permission to properly dispose of the bodies, but still! It seems that respect for the human body-even if its not someone you know, or if you are given permission, and no one will be watching, is still important.

The other article is about the ethical basis of using drone planes in the military. They seem like a great idea to me, but it does suck for the enemy to not be able to fight a real person. I am sure there will be a number of issues brought up due to the lack of actual fighting that will happen because of this.

Code Breakers

Here are the Ethics concepts that I pulled from the movie Code Breakers. The movie was based on a cheating scandal within the West Point Academy, where values are upheld to a high level. The ones who were cheating were trying to justify their actions because of keeping true to thier friends within the ring, but were not being true to their inner values.

Do I tell on my friends?
We are instructing officers, who will our men follow into battle, a liar and a cheat?
Is it ok to go undercover? to shake hands on things? to give people your trust, just so you can turn them in?
i can lie to myself, i just cant lie to an officer who asks a direct question
Mark for life-less than honorable discharge
did it to keep the team together-did it for the coach-thought he wanted it that way
Threats--what does that help? he's not going to change his story
Throw away 4 years of hard work? your life?
using values of an officer to justify why they have to lie
whistle blowers thanks is that no one will talk to you, threats, etc.
Will not betray my friends--that is the only honorable thing to do
Did the coaches or department have anything to do with it?
Now that you know everything, do you think we should have told the truth?
Are they really men of Character? coach says no honorable discharge, and no right to brand them as criminals

Tennessee family home burns as firefighters watch

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/tennessee-family-home-burns-while-firefighters-watch-191241763.html

The story here is that this rural, poor, Tennessee family had not paid their annual dues of $75 to the local fire department--essentially an insurance policy--so the firemen came, but did not put out the fire.

The fire chief defended their acts because a) no one was hurt and b) they cant get to every fire of every person due to the cost, so they can only put out the fires for people who pay their annual dues.

Apparently this has happened before in this county, just last year in fact.

For them to say they can't get to everyone's home unless they pay their dues doesn't take away the fact that they were there, and did nothing. I can't see how the greater good is being served here, or how the government can insist on everyone having an insurance policy. Without diving deeper, I don't think the firefighters actions were justified.

Integrity

Elder Tad R. Callister- President of the Seventy
Devotional

Is your integrity worth a dime? Everyone has a price.
Thomas Moore didn't have a price for his integrity. He didn't give in for any price--even his life
You can't move forward with your Christlike intentions without first fixing your integrity
Settle with an employee you are firing. Not enough to be fair, need to be Christlike
Integrity is not a temporary change of behavior, but a permanent change in nature
Disclose the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The lord can't tolerate a deceitful heart
Are there loopholes in our word?
Not governed by the presence of others
Reward for integrity: Accepted by the Lord

Ms. Evers' Boys

These are all the ethical dilemma concepts I noticed during the movie Miss Evers' Boys. I can really see why she did what she did, but it seems she could have done more by bringing up the study to the media. I'm sure that she didn't trust the media, or the government, to help her in this situation though--she really didn't have any sort of outlet to tell.

Money for staff or for medicine.
in order to have the same study they cant treat the patients
make medical history
money for treatment
help people understand that black people's bodies react the same as white peoples
need a pure result
patients come before anyone else
do no harm
wipe out centurys of ignorance that disease based on race
tuskeegee medical research center
show what medical black people can do
out of medicine anyway
patients cant get treatment for the study to continue
study will bring them money for treatment in 6months to a year
patients will feel better while they are alive, but are more likely to die
spinal tap required to check for neurological disease
renaming things like spinal taps as back shots
Penicillin came out, but didn't go to Syphilis patients
Science is a hard task masker
chance at history
making change
showing once and for all using science that black and white people are the same
is it ok for her to test the penicillin on her patient without doctors orders?
men died, but would have died anyway...right?


Miss Evers'
Do you think you know better than doctors?
worse things that cleaning toilets--is this her burden to bear?
do what the lord gives us to do
Couldn't leave all her friends or leave town
counted on for the good ideas
If you care about someone you dont lie to them
"I hope what your getting is better than what you're giving up"

China Basketball

Related Article Here

The papers are reporting that NBA players who signed with teams in China due to the lockout are regretting it. The lockout is over in the states, so these players now want to come back to their big salaries. The problem is they signed contracts that said they would stay in China and play out the season. Additionally, the Chinese teams are required to forfeit their season if any of their players leave and play in the NBA. The Chinese would have to sign a documenting allowing them to return to the states and play, which they are not going to do. Essentially they are being held to their contract.

The question is why are they trying so hard to get out of these contracts? There are reports of faked injuries, missing practice, and generally being difficult, from players trying to get out, but ethically, these guys have a responsibility to fulfill their contract. Why can't these guys just suck it up and play out their contract and then go back to the states next year. Seriously, their being babies.