s she entered her superior's office, Dr. Carol Severson was struck by
how dark it was.
"Hello, Carol," said Dr. Sayers, sitting behind his desk. "Please have
a seat."
"Why is it so dark in here?" she asked while sitting.
"I have another damn eye infection. I'm photophobic," he answered,
sounding distressed by the problem. "Well, you finally got an answer
from the FDA."
"Really?" Carol was delighted.
"Yes, they've given you the go-ahead for human testing." Dr. Sayers
handed Carol a document across his desk.
She studied the papers, elated. "I'm so happy. I've been looking
forward to this for so long."
"Yes," he answered, "they've given you special consideration since it's
a supposed cure." Becoming grave, he continued, "Now, Carol, the
counsel for the company asked me to talk to you about this research
you're doing."
Carol responded surprised, blurting out, "Oh?"
"You remember that you are still on your probationary period from the
incident a year ago. I know that we've gone over this many times, but
our lawyer is worried about this cure for arthritis you have. It's a
very important step for the company financially, and he has his concerns
about liability."
"Well, sir, I promise you that I've taken the greatest care..."
"I know, I know," he reassured, "but I feel I need to reiterate the
importance of paying attention to details. You've shown some sloppy
work in the past, and so I and the counsel will be watching closely on
this one."
"Sloppy? Only one mistake was made," she defended.
"One mistake, I might remind you, that was of critical importance in a
series of events. If not for the settlement we would have lost our
asses in a court case." He leaned back in his chair. "Now, let's not
have an argument here. I want you to know that we're behind you. I
decided not to pull the project out of your hands. I have confidence in
you. I've had our review board look over all the work on mice you've
done and they like what they see."
She sat silent, feeling scolded.
He saw her defeated look, and added, "Remember these two things: we're
behind you, but we want you to be careful."
She nodded. "I know. But believe me, sir, I've been so cautious.
You'll be proud of the outcome, I promise."
"I'm sure," he said to bolster her up. He felt as if he had been a bit
too harsh with his admonitions. "So tell me what you'll be doing now.
By the way, you have to submit a written proposal before you begin. You
knew that, didn't you?"
"Yes," she answered, becoming eager once again. "I've been working on
it the six months we've been waiting for the green light. Just a few
more days, and it will be ready for the review board."
"Good," he said. "So give me the gist right now."
Carol gave Dr. Sayers a thorough plan about the upcoming testing on
people, and he accepted it with no modifications. She shook his hand
and left the office. Out in the light again, she felt uneasy.
Back home, Carol sat on the floor, the pages of her proposal on the
coffee table before her. She tried to steel herself against the mixture
of fear and anticipation, which both rattled and excited her. "This is
my chance," she thought. "My way to redeem myself, and more. My way to
be successful after all these years of work. Just don't screw this up!"
A week later, the proposal was approved by the board of review and an
ad campaign was put together. Over the four counties surrounding the
city, a radio message went out calling for volunteers, offering
compensation. Of over four hundred replies, ten were selected for the
study.
Five registered nurses were to help Dr. Severson. She held a meeting
with them the day before the study was to begin.
"OK," she said, standing before them in the small conference room.
"I've handed each of you two patient names and their addresses. Today,
I want you to leave after this meeting and go meet with both of your
charges, so you know where to go tomorrow morning. It's imperative that
the bistrametonine be administered before ten a.m. to both your
patients. The halufen must then be administered after six p.m. It is
of absolute necessity that there be at least six hours between giving
the two different drugs. We're sticking strictly to an eight-hour
separation to ensure that no mess-ups occur. We have to be completely
sure on this matter. In order for Arthricure to cure rheumatoid
arthritis, this one instruction must be followed above all."
One of the nurses looked over at another, wondering why the doctor was
beating this point to death.
Carol noticed this, so continued, "You have a log there, and you need
to record the exact time each dose is administered. You will also keep
a diary of the effects you notice, and of the effects the patient
reports to you." She paused for a moment. "I know that all of you have
done this before, so you know the drill. But I'm determined to have
this study come out a success." After another moment's pause, she
concluded, "Well, that's about it. Everything you'll need is before
you. The log, the diary notebook, the instruction pamphlet, and twenty
doses of both bistrametonine and halufen. It's 1:30 right now, so I'll
let you get going to meet your patients." The group of nurses began
gathering their materials and standing up. "If you have any questions
whatsoever," Carol added, "you have my cell phone number. Call me
whenever with any question at all." The nurses nodded and shuffled out.
Outside, one of the nurses turned to another and said, "She doesn't
seem too sure of herself."
"Or this study," the other added.
The study went well for several days. Dr. Severson checked up on her
nurses diligently, making sure they were following her instructions
implicitly. She began to believe that all would go very well. Not only
were her nurses conducting themselves perfectly, but also the drug was
proving to be remarkably beneficial. The patients were regaining full
mobility, and experiencing no pain at all. With each new positive entry
into her master log, she was able to relax a bit more.
Sitting at home on the fifth night of the study, she received a phone
call.
"Hello, doctor," said one of her nurses.
"Oh, hello, Steven. How's it going?"
"Oh, great. I just got home from a date with a girl I've real wanted
to go out with."
"Oh, that's good," Carol replied.
"Yeah, I've been after her for a while now. But I called to tell you
that I had to change the procedure today."
Carol was shocked, only able to utter, "What?"
"Yeah, Joanna, the girl I wanted to go out with, she didn't let me know
until this morning. So I had to improvise."
"What did you do?" Carol was becoming worried.
"Well, I visited both my patients and administered the bist pill. But
I knew I wasn't going to make it to give them the halufen, so I just
left the pill with them and told them not to take it until that
evening. They knew the deal, so nobody was too put off."
"Steven," reacted Carol, "this is completely unprofessional!"
"Well, I'm sorry, doctor."
"You had no right to go and screw up my study like this."
"I'm sorry. I made sure that nothing would go wrong. I had to."
"You had to? How do you know nothing went wrong? Huh?" Carol slammed
down the phone and grabbed her car keys and purse. Once outside, she
ran back in to get her log, for the addresses.
"Hello, Dr. Severson," greeted the first patient.
"I'm so sorry to bother you, Mrs. Crenshaw. I know it's late, but I
came to check on you."
"Oh, I'm fine," answered the middle-aged woman. "Still feeling great."
"That's good. So you took the Halufen tonight?"
"The evening pill? Yes, I took it at about 8:30. Oh, you're here
because Steve took the night off."
"Yeah. Just making sure everything's OK."
After having said good night, Carol arrived at the second patient's.
There was no knock at the door, but the lights were on. Carol walked
around the house to peer into the windows. Around back, she saw the
head of Mrs. Rosen, sitting at her kitchen table, unmoving. While
knocking on the back door, Carol saw the kitchen floor, covered with a
pool of red, emanating from where Mrs. Rosen sat. Carol burst through
the door. "Mrs. Rosen!" she screamed.
The ambulance had come, and Mrs. Rosen was admitted to the emergency
room. Carol knew she had to call Dr. Sayers.
"Hello, Max," she began, trying to be cordial, her voice shaking a bit.
"Who's this?"
"Dr. Severson."
"It's after midnight." His tone grew grave. "Did something happen
with the Arthricure?"
"Yes," she forced. She couldn't continue.
"What?" he pursued. "What happened?"
She summoned her strength and answered, "One of the patients was
incorrectly medicated. She's in the emergency room at county. I think
you should come down."
"On my way," he said curtly, and hung up. "Damn it!"
Dr. Sayers arrived. One of his eyes was very red. It gave him a mad
and evil look. He strode up to Dr. Severson, who sat in the waiting
area, looking rather grieved.
"Carol, I hope my suspicions won't be confirmed. Did you screw up
another project?"
"No, sir," she said, standing, facing her boss humbly. "Here's the
doctor to explain."
Dr. Sayers turned around to hear the evaluation.
"Dr. Severson, has the woman's family arrived yet?"
"No, but they've been called."
"Well, I'll tell you what we've found. She's a sixty year old woman,
so she's not reacting to the blood loss well."
"Blood loss?" reacted Dr. Sayers. "What kind of reaction has she had?"
"Who are you?" asked the emergency room physician.
"This is my supervisor, Dr. Sayers."
"Ah," replied the physician. "Well, the old woman has received several
serious self-inflicted wounds around her body. If Dr. Severson hadn't
found the patient when she had, the woman would have died."
"Well, what wounds did she inflict upon herself?" asked Dr. Sayers,
becoming frantic.
"She has, in effect, amputated both her own legs and her own arm." Dr.
Sayers recoiled, aghast. "Also," the physician went on, "she has carved
into her face an extension of the mouth. There are two zigzag incisions
in the cheeks that look like the woman was trying to make herself have a
larger smile."
Dr. Sayers sat down. He was speechless.
"You'll both be glad to know, however, that she's been stabilized.
We've stitched her face back together, and a cosmetic surgeon has
already planned to reconstruct tomorrow morning. But the limbs, I'm
afraid, are permanently lost."
"How so?" asked Dr. Severson. "They weren't found at her house? They
couldn't just--be sewn back on? Oh, my goodness!" She could barely
stammer out these words. Her throat clenched as she raced to speak
them. She stood now wide-eyed, her hand over her mouth, feeling ready
to vomit. Dr. Sayers could only shake his head in dismay, and rub his
balding head.
"That's another odd aspect to this," the physician went gravely on.
"She didn't just cut them off in one act. The police found about fifty
separate pieces, large and small. Her arm as well."
"Why?! My God, why?!" screamed Carol. The entire waiting room went
silent. Everyone gazed upon her. She began sobbing. Dr. Sayers stood
and held her shoulders. "Now, Carol, it'll be alright."
"No, no, it won't," she choked out.
Holding Dr. Severson, Dr. Sayers looked at the physician and asked,
"She did all this and didn't bleed to death?"
"Oh, yes, that's the last shocker." He eyed Carol to see if she
reacted to his statement. He was unsure whether to continue for fear of
upsetting her yet more.
"What is it?" demanded Dr. Sayers.
"The police found an iron plugged in, sitting on the kitchen table. It
had a great deal of blood on it. She had been cauterizing her wounds
with it as she proceeded."
"Oh my --," was all Dr. Sayers could enunciate. His grip on Dr.
Severson loosened. She quietly shook. "That demonstrates clarity of
mind. No human being could endure such pain."
"That's our main question to the two of you," spoke the physician.
"What medication has she been on? They found no bottles around her, and
there wasn't anything in the house to bring any of this on."
"Um, we know of nothing," answered Dr. Sayers. Carol lifted her red
and tearful face, not understanding.
"Well, we'll continue with her. We'll get back to you." The physician
strode off.
"We know," admonished Dr. Severson.
"Shut up," replied Dr. Sayers. "Mr. Harrison is on his way over to
advise us. I don't want any information given out until we have his
counsel. Understood? Carol, tell me you won't say anything!"
"I won't." They both sat. The lawyer showed up after a few minutes.
He looked upset. "Let's go find a place to discuss this matter," he
recommended.
They walked off and found another waiting room, where no family members
and friends sat.
"It's the Arthricure," Dr. Severson blurted out. "The damn nurse
didn't follow my instructions!"
"You're ultimately responsible here, Dr. Severson," the attorney chimed
in. "No matter who did what, you'll bear the brunt of the
responsibility."
"Charlie, lighten up a moment," said Dr. Sayers. "We all know she's
through in this business. But what we have to do right now is figure
out a way to save the company a law suit."
"Yes, well, if the study is found to be the cause of some
hospitalization, we're definitely going to court. How bad is it,
anyway?"
Dr. Sayers described the horror to Mr. Harrison. The attorney was
shocked.
"This could be disastrous," was all he could say.
The attorney advised to wait for the woman's recovery and offer her a
settlement. In the meantime, Carol was fired and the study was called
off. The two drugs were collected and locked away.
Although terminated, Dr. Severson was to report every day in case the
legal staff, assembled to handle the case, needed her input.
A week went by. The lawyers inquired daily when they could meet with
Mrs. Rosen, and were told that she would soon be able. She could not
speak, but she was in good spirits and was prolifically writing notes to
the hospital staff.
Eventually, the meeting came, and Mr. Harrison, Dr. Sayers and Dr.
Severson were allowed to meet with Mrs. Rosen. Her face was still
swollen, but had improved considerably since Dr. Severson had seen her
last. Through the stitches, however, one could almost see a smile on
Mrs. Rosen's face.
"Good morning," began the lawyer. "I'm the attorney for the
pharmaceutical company. This is Dr. Sayers, the head of the research
department. And you already know Carol Severson."
Mrs. Rosen began writing on her pad with her one remaining arm, while
moaning as if she tried to speak the words she wrote. Carol took the
slip of paper and read, "Hello, everyone. I am very happy to see you
all today."
Mr. Harrison looked at Dr. Sayers, both a bit confused.
"You're doing well, then?" asked Carol hopefully.
Mrs. Rosen's reply: "Doing wonderful."
Mr. Harrison shrugged and smiled warily. "Mrs. Rosen, we're here to
discuss with you the legal aspect of your accident."
Reply: "What accident?"
"The bad reaction you had to the medication we administered to you."
"There has been no bad reaction," Carol read aloud, baffled by these
responses. The two men shared her incredulity.
"Mrs. Rosen, do you realize that you are in the hospital because of the
study that Dr. Severson conducted? Do you remember the drugs her nurse
was administering to you? What was the nurse's name?"
"Steven Bauderlich," answered Carol. "Remember Steven, Mrs. Rosen?"
Replies: "I know I'm in the hospital," and "Yes, I remember Steven.
Nice boy."
Dr. Sayers asked, "You have been told, haven't you, that you've lost
both your legs and your left arm?" Mrs. Rosen nodded. "And that you
inflicted these injuries, along with cutting your face, upon yourself?"
Mrs. Rosen wrote: "Yes, and I thank you."
"Thank us? How so? Why do you thank us, ma'am?"
Reply: "This would not have been possible without that beautiful drug
of yours."
Mr. Harrison asked, unable to subdue his surprise, "You mean you're
happy about all of this?"
Mrs. Rosen scribbled, "Yes. Definitely. Couldn't be happier."
Mr. Harrison ventured, "Are you willing to sign an agreement not to
bring legal action against us for these injuries you've suffered?"
Reply: "Of course."
"Well, then," declared Mr. Harrison, standing. "I think we're done
here. Thank you very much." Mrs. Rosen nodded.
Mr. Harrison and Dr. Sayers walked out. Carol stood besides Mrs.
Rosen, looking at her with a great deal of pity.
Mrs. Rosen began writing again, and Carol read, "Could you please hand
me the mirror so I can see my face?"
"Mrs. Rosen..."
Another note read, "Please!"
Carol acquiesced. Mrs. Rosen viewed herself with apparent joy. At the
door, she turned and looked at the older woman, lying there so happily
rejoicing over her new look.
Two weeks later, Dr. Severson met Mr. Harrison at his office.
"Mrs. Rosen has signed away her rights to litigate. We are only
responsible for her medical bills. She'll be going to a convalescent
facility soon."
"Well, that's good for the company, I suppose," acknowledged Dr.
Severson.
"And good for you, too. You won't be facing a jury. It appears you
won't go before the state medical board, either. No one knows a thing
about this. The attending physicians think she went insane. They never
attributed the drugs to the incident. Dr. Sayers is to be thanked for
that."
Mr. Harrison pushed some papers forward. "This is a contract we have
for you. You agree to be let go, to never discuss this case with anyone
for any reason whatsoever, and we will give you a sizeable severance
pay. Before you sign that, I want you to tell me why you never
disclosed the dangers of combining the two drugs."
"What do you mean?" asked Carol, defensively.
"You know what I mean. We uncovered the part of your tests on mice
that showed combining the two drugs caused the mice to begin chewing
their feet and tails off. You knew this would happen!"
"That's why I was so careful--"
"If we had known about this, you wouldn't have been approved for the
study. You cursed the study before it ever started. Please sign the
agreement." Mr. Harrison was disgusted with her.
Carol started to read it, but Harrison bolted out, "Just sign the damn
thing!" She did so. "Goodbye, doctor." He emphasized the last word
with scorn. "We'll send you a copy and the bank will call you about the
money."
She left the room dejectedly.
Once home, Carol cleared out her medicine cabinet. She gathered all
the medication from the rest of the house and displayed it all on her
coffee table. There were some fifteen bottles, some prescription, most
over-the-counter. She poured the pills and capsules out, making a large
pile, and began taking them all with water. Within minutes, she had
consumed the pile and sat back. "That should do it."
Slow tears descended her cheeks. "Such a promising life," she
thought. "My family had been so proud of me. If only they knew what a
failure I am." She sat for half an hour, waiting to die. She thought
of her divorce, of her children living with their father, of her
twice-disgraced career as a doctor. Then she thought of the check she
had received. "Fifty thousand dollars. That's a lot of money. Maybe I
can be happy."
She pulled herself up with her fading strength. "What have I done?"
She fell across the coffee table, scattering the empty pill bottles
across the floor. She pulled the phone down to her by the cord and
dialed 911.
At the emergency room, the doctors began pumping Carol's stomach. The
emergency technician read off the drugs on the bottles he had brought:
"docusate sodium, levothyroxine sodium, omeprazole, aspirin, halufen,
Claritin, Seldane, some antihistamine, Centrum, Tylenol PM, oyster
calcium, bistrametonine, gingko biloba, Midol, and Vicodin."
"So far so good," said the doctor. "There are a couple in there I've
never heard of, but I think she'll pull through. We've got her stomach
pumped, so we're just waiting on that toxicology report..."
