Awakenings is a film that brings up questions surrounding ethics – when good intentions may actually bring harm. In the film, Dr. Sayer struggles with trying to find a solution to improve the quality of life for patients struggling with post-encephalitis letharigca catatonia. The biggest struggle for Sayer is that he takes some serious risks to find a solution – while it is clear Sayer does what he thinks is best, he crosses many lines. Ethical dilemmas are hard. Sometimes ethical problems have clear, black and white answers, but others can sometimes fall in a more questionable, grey area. In these instances, everyone is going to have an opinion, but there is not always a true answer to be found. Encephalitis lethargica has no known cause and no known solution. What starts as an illness similar to the flu (headache, fever, tiredness), progresses into a serious illness with weakness, pains, tremors, and potentially coma. It seems as though in some cases, people fall ill …show more content…
I talked about how people are going to feel differently depending on their views of the situation – some patients may be grateful for even a brief chance to see family and friends and have some freedom from their own body, but others may be unable to cope with “waking up” 20 plus years later. Their families may be gone, or their no longer to do activities they once enjoyed. I also responded to the ethical concerns around what Dr. Sayer did. I discussed how it was clear that Sayer mentally struggled with his decisions – especially in the end. While he did take risks, he thought he was doing what was right. In the end, you cannot just look at the negative. Sayer was the only one inspired enough by these people to look for a treatment. He made the biggest breakthrough in finding a solution for encephalitis lethargica ever – and potentially inspired others to research and work to find a permanent