Cognitive Disorders In Daniel Keys's Flowers For Algernon

The story Flowers For Algernon is about a man named Charlie. He has a low IQ of 68. He wants to be chosen to under go an experiment to make him smart. Ethics is what is right and wrong, mainly right. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the sugary to make him smarter. They were unethical by not telling him the risks

Brain research like this generally requires a live subject whether it is to be an animal or a human. Any experimental medical testing is always an ethical issue because of the potential risks that it poses such as pain, discomfort, death, or altercations to the subjects current state. There are many risks with brain research involving what might happen in the present and what could happen in the future.

The idea of changing someone's IQ is an interesting thing but Charlie a thirty seven year old man who struggles with learning and wants to be smart will become smart as a doctor gives him this chance by having a brain operation, Charlie should not have had the operation performed on him. “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes is a great sci fi short story that you can learn a lot from. Although I think Charlie should not have had the operation, some might say that he should have had it because he wanted to be smart so it gave him a taste of what being intelligent is all about. The operation done on Charlie had a negative impact on him in the end, poor doctor choses, weak animal testing and bad knowledge of the situation could leave many other

Daniels Decisions are made by people every day across the world. Some are even made by thousands of doctors across the world. Some of these decisions are considered ethical decisions. Ethical decisions are well-founded standards of right and wrong, and development and study of standards. In the book, Flowers for Algernon, Charlie Gordon-the main character-has an IQ (intelligence quotient) of 68. Since Charlie has an extremely low IQ, his one wish for him is to be smart. Charlie's doctors, Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss, have come up with a special operation that will help Charlie become smarter. But did they act ethically in a way? No. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed the surgery to make him smarter, and here's why.

Algernon, a mouse that was one of the first successful animals to undergo the operation, had been studied by Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss, though they never concluded their studies - which makes their decision to experiment on Charlie unethical. Before experimenting on a human, it is common sense to finish testing to make sure that everything is safe and definite. In the essay, ‘Take Care: There’s More to Medical Ethics Than Absence of Harm’ Eric Kodish explains that “...as complex and complicated as issues are, doctors can help by asking themselves…: What do I need to do in order to take care of this person before me?”

Charlie Gordon's doctors were not ethical when they made the decision to perform the experiment. Charlie has an IQ of 68 and cannot make decision to perform an experiment on his brain. It

After the BBC experiment many websites and doctors started examining the breakthrough study. The university article also states that “The results were startling. Individuals paced neurotically in their cells, and some reported visions of oysters, zebras and tiny cars. Psychological tests administered before and after the ordeal demonstrated significant declines in subjects’ intellectual faculties on the one hand, and increases in suggestibility on the other. (University, 2011)”

Another piece of evidence that Charlie's doctors weren't ethical when preforming on Charlie is the question "Has the patient been informed of benefits and risks, understood this information, and given consent?" (Seigler). Even though both Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss told Charlie the benefits, and Charlie understood the information and gave consent, the doctors didn’t inform Charlie of the risks. They didn’t tell him that not only he would lose all of his intelligence in a short matter of time, but most likely die. Charlie found that information on his

I think it is important to have general guidelines to follow in order to prevent experiments like the Tuskegee Study and the Willowbrook study. The Willowbrook study involved a group of children diagnosed with mental retardation, living at the Willowbrook State Hospital in Staten Island, NY. The experimenters wanted to study the history of the hepatitis virus when left untreated, so the children were intentionally infected with the disease. The scientists tried to justify the experiment saying the children would have eventually been infected while at Willowbrook anyway, so it would be better for them to be infected under controlled, scientific research conditions. They also tried to convince the parents that if they enrolled in the study, their children would be given admission into the hospital (which was intentionally short of space). (Marsden & Melander)

When doctors are studying science and testing certain operations on patients, they could sometimes not think about the decisions or consequences about the treatment or operation. Or you could say they weren't thinking as ethically like a doctor should. Which ethically means the intelligence of ones mind and thoughts on any decisions that impact their life or another's life. Charlie Gordon is a character in the story "Flowers For Algernon", and he did not have the most intelligence. So, Doctor Nemur and Strauss took him in without thinking logically or ethically. Charlie Gordon's doctors did not act ethically when they performed surgery to make him smarter.

In the modern world, patients expect their doctors to aid them and to support them. In the short story, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, Dr. Strauss and Dr. Nemur conducted an intelligence enhancement experiment on a man named, Charlie Gordon and changed his life. With an IQ of sixty-eight, the scientists altered him and tripled his IQ. However, this operation has not been ethical because the procedure was abstruse to Charlie, the doctors were rushing, and Dr. Nemur and Dr. Strauss were acting selfishly.

If doctors had to experiment on people after successfully experimenting on animals for something life changing like a cure for cancer. I would say if the person understands the dangers of the experiment it is up to them to decide. In the case of Albert, he did not understand the dangers of the research and because of this the ethics and integrity of the classical conditioning experiment is questioned. The experiment is explained to us in the text ( quote #1)

In class we just read a story called “ Flowers for Algernon” In the story a mentally handicapped man becomes highly intelligent due to an operation performed by scientists. The effects eventually wear off causing the man to once again be mentally handicapped. In this essay I hope to come up with some answers to the many complex issues surrounding medical science research. In the end I hope to also better my understanding of medical research.

These horrible experiments were carried out even on children and many of them died and they did not stop to consider the value of human life and the families of the victims. Even though this was in the past, it did help many people realise that certain types of science experiments are barbaric, therefore should not be done, and it also led to scientists today considering what ethical implications their experiments will have, before conducting their

The marathon of scientists finding cure to the various diseases that haunt mankind, continues to make an indelible landmark. Scientists in past have created subtle practices by using human parts and mentally retarded children in research trials, finding cure for a disease created an atmosphere of impossibility, and there were no federal guidelines in place that could approve these treatments to be used on patients, like Food and Drug Administration (FDA).