Fox News Article Calls Grey's Anatomy "Irresponsible Entertainment"
While Grey's Anatomy has become TV's top show by transferring the "all for one, one for all" mentality of Friends to the arena of fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, some aren't convinced that's a good thing.
In real life, a Fox News article by Peter Brown asserts, friends don't always look the other way when crimes are committed and rules are broken.
In fact, the columnist finds profoundly disturbing the show's message that it is normal, and to some degree acceptable, for people in a position to decide who lives and who dies to give their own emotions preference over the law and medical ethics.
Of course, it's only TV. But given the series' popularity and the topic's seriousness, Brown finds himself offended by a major story line of the hit show -- which he admits to finding extremely entertaining.
He's talking about when a surgical intern, Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (above), broke the law and medical canon to manipulate the way a heart transplant was allocated to save her fiance, Denny Duquette.
The show's failing, in this writer's opinion, is the inaccurate impression that the transplant process is capricious, can be easily manipulated, and if so, there's no real harm, since it's to help a friend.
Brown was lucky enough to receive a liver transplant in 2002. He became acquainted with the arduous process by which organs are allocated.
Organ transplants are the ultimate zero-sum game. For every patient saved, someone else is not. Many more eople need hearts, livers, lungs and kidneys than there are available organs. Thousands of Americans die each year waiting for a transplant.
Everyone connected with the transplant process -- doctors, nurses, donor families, or recipients and their families -- understands this.
The United Network For Organ Sharing supervises U.S. transplants. It has set criteria for evaluating patients' needs, primarily based on a recipients' closeness to death, overall health and ability to thrive afterwards. It decides who gets a transplant and who doesn't.
In the Grey's Anatomy world, in last May's episode, "17 Seconds," Dr. Stevens makes her fiance sicker by cutting his LVAD wire in order to move him up the list when a heart becomes available. Several fellow interns, instead of stopping her, aid in her efforts.
Denny dies in the season finale after the transplant and the other interns don't report what happened. Later, they refuse to finger the culprit in some kind of celebration of friendship.
If upcoming episode previews are to be believed, the hospital lets Dr. Stevens back on staff. Is this right?
Arthur Caplan, a Professor of Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, says what would then happen in the real world is this:
- Dr. Stevens would probably face murder or manslaughter charges, since she began a process that resulted in the patient's death. She would face criminal charges for falsifying medical records. She would be dismissed from the intern program and almost certainly never get a medical license.
- The hospital, aware it could lose its accreditation to do transplants and have to pay a huge damage settlement (not just to this patient's family, but to the family of the one who didn't get the heart due to the fraud), would report what happened to the state medical board, UNOS and the police.
- The other interns could also face criminal charges. Their medical futures would be in doubt since they could be considered accessories to the crime.
In the show, nobody talks to the police or the Washington State medical authorities. Nothing happens to the other interns. Now, TV is, of course, entertainment. It is invested in hooking viewers on Izzie Stevens' character. But it is also a business, hence their reluctance to write a popular character off the show.
You got the feeling when the tough resident doctor, Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson) who supervises the interns began lobbying her boss to take Dr. Stevens (Katherine Heigl) back that she will somehow return to the staff and all her friends.
It's a shame.
Television doesn't have to replicate real life. But when a drama, not an obvious farce like the NBC comedy Scrubs, suggests crime can be without consequences, it is as dangerous to the public good as when it glorifies sex and violence.
October 25th, 2006 2:49 PM
This is utterly ridiculous! This is only TELEVISION!!! If people are throwing a fit over Grey's Anatomy they should make a club and go after each and every television show. I can garuntee EACH tv show has something 'wrong' or 'illegal' in it. ALL of the soap opera's do it. one minute a guy's beating the crap out a man and a week later, files are dropped.
People like this need to realize that this is ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION and either sit down and watch or walk away.
~Kayla
October 25th, 2006 3:17 PM
I agree, Fox is being silly (and a little jealous, perhaps?)
If a drama needs to adhere to the "letter of the law" - then what about the "reality" tv shows, which just happen to be a staple of the FOX network.....hmmmmm?
October 25th, 2006 3:25 PM
Seriously..
October 25th, 2006 3:28 PM
Does Fox realize that "House" does not follow the rules of ethics either. Love the show "House" but it is just a TV show. Just Like "Grey's Anatomy", House is fictional. Would you really want a doctor who abuses drugs to treat you or or child, I do not think so......
October 25th, 2006 3:42 PM
That's why people watch television to get away from reality for a while. If you don't realize the differance I suggest theropy. Im sure Dr. Phil would love to have you on his show.
October 25th, 2006 4:09 PM
It's not meant to be taken seriously. I mean, I'm sure other medical shows, like E.R., have done things like this before. If not, who cares? Grey's Anatomy is far more about the relationships within the hospital, rather than the medicine. If we wanted to watch REAL medicine happening, this show wouldn't be the one to watch. It's the characters and relationships that this show is based around.
October 25th, 2006 7:14 PM
Oh jeez. What a strange and silly article. How good would Grey's be if followed interns in an actual hospital? Not very. Actually, not at all. Look at Prison Break. You're essentially rooting for escaped convicts. Would that somehow induce the public to make light of convicts and sympathize with them? No, because people have more sense than that. It's just entertainment, very good entertainment at that. So stop complaining, whoever wrote this, because you have nothing else better to do.
October 26th, 2006 3:06 AM
I think its great, quite an enertaining article.. makes me laugh at how serious people take some things. I totally agree, it is farfetched, and to be honest i myself have had a kidney transplant, but i absolutely love greys anatomy! I watch it because of the romance, its beautiful, i certainly do not watch the show to sit there and pick out mistakes. like almost everyone else has already stated... its just a tv show... ratings have proved it.
October 26th, 2006 6:44 AM
I agree with you guys - I don't think the majority of people believe that what happens in Grey's is true in hospitals across the country.
Organ AND tissue donation is very important. One organ donor can save 8 lives and one tissue donor can help improve the quality of life in 50 people. 50! I had a tissue transplant over the summer and I went from crutches and chronic knee pain to some pain, but I can actually function. :)
October 26th, 2006 8:03 AM
I totally do not agree with this article. I think the vast majority of Americans know that if this were real life we wouldn't even think of letting Izzie go unpunished. If anyone takes this show to heart than they have probl;ems differentiating reality from fiction. I think that grey's made an issue of organ donation, and it showed everyday Americans how important it is to donate and showed how not receiving an organ that is needed affects not just the patient but the patient's loved ones as well. I work in the hospital world and stuff like this is not real...anyone that questions the storylines needs to relize it is just that.....a story!
October 26th, 2006 8:06 AM
It's FOX News people... That should be enough to tell you what they say is worthless.
October 26th, 2006 8:20 AM
I have a friend who had a heart transplant, his 7 yr. anniversary was 10-25-06. If you think for one moment that I find Greys offensive, you are wrong! I can tell the difference between TV and the real world! Get a life, and I am grateful that you had a successful transplant, but realize that we all do enjoy the escape of the real world and the horror that it gives us each day. I would have destroyed Izzie myself had this been real world; but instead I was able to cry for her and Denny. Being able to enjoy Grey's Anatomy is what makes my real world bearable. What makes your real world bearable Peter Brown? Writing b.s. for Fox? Sorry for you!
October 26th, 2006 8:42 AM
yes it is only TV, but the article made some good points. there needs to be some truth behind the shows. something as serious asa transplant there are so many things that need to fall into place. what izzy did was wrong. i do think however that the critisisms of the show should have waited a few more episodes, to see what actually becomes of Dr. Stevens, there could very well be some more repercussions for her actions. both lawfully as well as personaly (like say guilt.)
October 26th, 2006 9:32 AM
Fox news GET A LIFE!!!! Just a show this is ONLY TV
October 26th, 2006 11:19 AM
oh come one... they're doing this because Grey's ratings are kicking *ss!!! i bet if GA wasn't the #1 show right now, they wouldn't give it a time of day. and also, 17 seconds aired last may, why just make a fuss now? whatever!
October 26th, 2006 11:33 AM
Organ donation is a long process, does anyone think it isn't? Does anyone in their right minds believe that what Izzy did to try & save Deny would be ignored in a real hospital setting? If they do, they shouldn't have a television to watch the show, they should be in school, learning a thing or two.
I'm sure alot of fans, including myself have scoffed at a number of things in this show. But it's a show, it's entertainment. What harm will really come of this? Someone that is smart enough to get into & through medical school & become a surgical intern might try the same stunt one day? I don't think anyone who would try this in real life, would get through the 1st year of med school.
If you want to disect shows, go for reality tv, that shows it's ok to cheat/steal/lie/starve yourself/trade spouses, etc whatever necessary to win.
October 26th, 2006 11:34 AM
Are you kidding? Someone actually took the time to prepare this ... Do they realize that they could have been reporting on some other important news and not this. A vast majority, if not more fan of the show know right from wrong, know real life of tv ... People need to realize that we do not need someone else to dictate how to interpret what we watch on television. It's TV for goodness sake ... get over it ... move on ... Grey's Anatomy ROCKS!!!!
October 26th, 2006 11:59 AM
Ooh for goodness sake, it is a TV SHOW!! Not reality!!! I don't watch the show to get a dose of reality, I watch it to be entertained and to get away from the chaos that we live in.....With everything else going on in the world like the war on terroism, people starving across the globe, I want to know why they chose to write about a television show? He needs to go write about some current events or something and quit taking tv shows literally (I would hate to see what he thought about soap operas). It's ridiculous. I still LOVE my Grey's Anatomy!!!
October 26th, 2006 4:49 PM
Whatever.
Fox is just jealous of ABC's amazing hit TV show. It is highly entertaining show on so many levels, and it 's very. very popular, not to mention that it is probably making a LOT of money. So, the people who wrote that article are probably just trying to create drama to turn the attention away from the show. Grey's Anatomy is awesome, so people can just... cut it out.
October 26th, 2006 5:25 PM
I am sorry if people cannot put together that any fictional show on t.v. is NOT REAL and so HOLLYWOOD then they are at fault not the show!!!! Shows are made to tug at the emotions and make people feel something. If this show sounded like a Discovery Channel Documentary then I highly doubt it would have kicked CSI's ASS on Thursday nights! GET A LIFE PEOPLE WITH TOO MUCH TIME ON THEIR HANDS! They must have been hurting for a story and nothing else interesting on there plates. How sad is that!
October 26th, 2006 8:42 PM
It's TV and most shit on TV is not real...even those so called reality shows...anyway FOX wrote about it because the show is popular and we will read it because it is about GA and so we will read it....they are doing their job.....getting people to read and may attention to them....I love GA...
October 26th, 2006 9:46 PM
This is just ridiculous. As the writer said this is ONLY TV. Get over it and move on. Write about something that is real life and is going to have a real affect on earth not on a television show! And the fact that someone took their time to even write this article is hilarious. But I guess they have their own opinions like I have mine when it comes to hating whoever wrote this article.
October 27th, 2006 3:45 PM
I find this very amusing since it's coming from Fox news and there news reports have been questionable about REAL news issues like the War in Iraq. Secondly, if they are going to point fingers and tv dramas, why not look at their own network first. I am an avid Grey's Anatomy fan, but I also enjoy watching House from time to time. How many times has Dr. House broken the rules, or done things, which would cause him to lose his medical license? Where are the news articles about that series?
TV is TV is TV is TV!!! This is the point!! People are too busy trying to move the responsibility from themselves as parents onto something silly like a television. If you teach children that it's just a tv show then they will know better than to cut LVAD wires to help their boyfriend get a heart transplant.
Either way, bad publicity is good publicity. The show wouldn't be talked about if it weren't doing so darn good.
October 27th, 2006 8:44 PM
oh, come ON!!! it's TV for pete's sake. they honestly think a surgical intern in real life would actually think they could do something like that without consequences?? jeez. get a life.
October 27th, 2006 10:10 PM
I agree with what so many of you have said. This is so silly. Would anyone use Grey's Anatomy as a way to learn about medicine?? For goodness sakes. Could a boy really survive with a tree limb stuck in his abdomen, or a man survive who was run through with a metal rail? Or, could a bomb really shoot into a man's chest and not explode and yet when carried so delicately as to stay completely level then blow up bomb squad guy? This show provides the drama of a real life operating room, not actual practice. I didn't expect to actually watch what would happen in a real hospital. It is fiction! The hospital sets the stage for the interactions and relationships. It isn't suppose to be the practitioner's guide to heart transplant protocol. Give it a rest, FOX.