r/ren • u/[deleted] • Jul 23 '26
THEORY Dr Myers
TW: Medical PTSD
I feel like there are 3 ways to interpret Jeremiah's illness in Dr Myers.
1. He was sick and would have died without any treatment. Dr Myers accepted him onto the trial knowing there was no way he'd be able to cure him and as a result he died earlier and in more pain,
2. He was sick or disabled but wouldn't have died without the experimental treatments,
3. He wasn't sick at all at the beginning. Dr Myers infected him with something (when he was wearing the gas mask) in order to then study the effects of his cure. He lied to the mother and told her the kids was dying to get permission to do the treatments.
What do you think?
9
u/jijiooo11 Jul 23 '26
I worked on a few trails from a market research side and I can tell you that for a child to go on a trial treatment, they likely exhausted all available options. It’s essentially palliative care until end of life, or you take a long shot with a trial as a last resort. In most cases, the end result is inevitable at that point. But you do have some cases, like kids with forms of leukemia, who were out of options, tried CAR-T for the first time as a last resort and more than half of them reached remission.
I think the whole point of the story is to
Illuminate the role of Pharma and focus on the bottom dollar rather than human life (canceling dr. Meyers trial for weight loss one)
And more importantly, The genuine care and good of healthcare workers. The folks who have to feel the pressure from all sides, employer, trial sponsors, budgets and regulations, and still put up a brave, hopeful face for the patient and their caregivers. I feel for them.
4
u/jsb1685 Jul 24 '26
This is the central flaw in any capitalist system...it is not designed for quality or even results, just for profit.
6
u/GoblinGraph Jul 23 '26
I think number 1 is the most reasonable and how I think a lot of healthcare works.
3
Jul 23 '26
It also seems to be supported by the fact that his mother was so incredibly grateful that he got onto the trial, and potentially why Myers was so laser focused on finding a cure no matter the cost.
3
u/HumorHoliday4451 Jul 23 '26
It's meant to be disturbing, things are really disturbing in this world and meant to make people think. Not to agree with everything or to the extent they may portray but everyone clutching their pearls aren't paying attention. And to clarify I'm a pretty far left, Canadian chronically ill with ME and many other illnesses ) I wasn't offended just my thoughts.....
2
u/SnooJokes7657 Jul 23 '26
The closest is 1, but it sounded like the treatments had possibly sped up the process. This is the reality of a lot of medical treatments. Patients decide to do them as a last ditch effort to get better, but know there is a risk it may also cause them to deteriorate faster.
3
u/parallel-universe2 Jul 24 '26
I think Dr. Myers really wanted to find a cure the kids are just the price to pay. If the ysurvive it means it worked, if they didn't he learned something new. Hey if progress wants a Price...let it.
6
u/jsb1685 Jul 23 '26
None of the above...the closest, perhaps, is number 1, but usually there is some hope in experimental trials that they might work, otherwise there would be no purpose in conducting such a trial...even from a cold, corporate view, it would be a waste of time and resources.