Google Alert tool… I expect someone from Medcure’s damage control dept. to voice in on this one soon. Getting started, I’m wondering what didn’t match up with Medcure’s paperwork and explanation in the article concerning why the donor’s body was actually rejected.
I’d like to make the point that individuals effected directly or indirectly (donor or family) by debilitating and or terminal diseases sometimes don’t hear well. I mean they may hear what they want to hear due to the pain and suffering of the infirmed. So, when Medcure comes along with a message of “Your Support for Finding a Cure”, assumptions may be made by the donor or their family whose listening skills may be diminished during a time of duress. This is where ethics come into play, because a donor agency’s success can easily be augmented from the subtle or not-so-subtle use of key words or an adorned message the donor or their family may long for to help support the end of debilitating and or terminal diseases.
The internet archives show Medcure’s old website Homepage linking “debilitating” and “cancer and Alzheimer’s” together. I can see where this may lead the donor or their family into thinking Medcure donors are used primarily for research like cancer and Alzheimer’s, or “Debilitating” diseases include diseases like cancer or Alzheimer’s from that message. Alzheimer’s disease currently has no cure and is quite more than just debilitating. I see where Medcure uses caveats in their consent form and in strategic places in their website regarding “no guarantee” about the body being used for study of a particular disease, but it doesn’t appear to coincide adequately with their prime message about finding cures and it has never been placed on their website’s Homepage. Who knows what conversations Medcure has with the donor and their families about what research for “cures” is possible prior to accepting a donor.
Maybe it’s just me, but Medcure leaves me with a lot of questions with their website. Will Medcure ever clarify and better define their public marketing message to families about how they use the donor’s body for the benefit of the public? Do they really need to? Is misrepresentation occurring? Is it just a case of the end justifying the means for their good cause? I guess only Medcure and hopefully their donor families know for sure.
