Dax's Case Summary

Dax’s Case is a biography based on the life of Donald Cowart illustrating his experiences in hospital as a severe burns victim.1 This documentary challenged the principles of autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. Whilst watching Dax’s Case, the incident in which I felt the most unease was when the debridement process was shown. The shock I experienced was sinisterly juxtaposed with a voice over of Dax speaking calmly about his desire to discontinue treatment and die. The scene opens with a close-up shot of Dax’s severely scarred face and his graft-covered eye socket. The camera zooms out to show his full thickness burns covering approximately two-thirds of his body, his raw wounds and his maimed hands. As this horrific sight was shown, Dax described himself as “nothing more than a hostage…forced to receive treatment [as he was] too weak to resist and unable to walk out on [his] own”. In this particular scene, I sided with Dax and felt his injustice as I believed that individuals have the right to make decisions about their own life and be accountable for those decisions.
On reflection, as the documentary …show more content…
The principle of beneficence relies on the doctor’s duty to evaluate a patient’s condition and take into account any lifestyle factors which may be in conflict. Dax’s doctor, Robert White, did determine that Dax “would surely survive and could probably achieve some degree of normalcy in his life.” However, the principle of non-maleficence is violated as the healthcare professionals treating Dax did not avoid physical harm throughout treatment and went against Dax’s wishes. I believe that the doctor’s decision was justified and although he experienced pain throughout treatment, in the long term, he would be able to physically leave the hospital and live his life

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