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American Experience: The Boy in the Bubble
When David Vetter died at age 12, he was already world famous: he was the boy in the plastic bubble, mythologized as the plucky, handsome child who had defied the odds. His life story is a tragic tale that pits ambitious doctors against bewildered, frightened young parents. It is a story of committed caregivers and resourceful scientists on the cutting edge of medical research. Did doctors, in a rush to save a child, condemn the boy to a life not worth living? Did they, in the end, effectively decide how to kill him? The film raises some of the most difficult ethical questions of our age.
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Download Questions (PDF file - Adobe Reader required)
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What do you think were the doctors' primary motives in creating David's "bubble"?
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Knowing that she was a SCID (severe combined immune deficiency) carrier, do you believe Carol Vetter should have had another child?
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What do you imagine you'd have done if you'd been in the Vetters' shoes?
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What's the better way, to let nature take its course or try to do something, no matter what, when illness strikes?
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What kind of limits, if any, do you think should be placed on medical intervention?
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Do you believe David's life had "meaning?" What was it?
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What do you think the world learned from David's situation?
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What about David's story made it compelling source material for the songwriter Paul Simon and the producers of both the TV movie that starred John Travolta and the "Seinfeld" episode?
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The film's producer and writer Barak Goodman asks, "In our rush to prolong life, are we creating states so unnatural that they beg the question of what it means to be human?" What do you say?
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In this tale of David's life, who deserves credit? Who deserves blame?
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