CMO Phlox

[Cogito]

Didn't Phlox explicitly say as much in "The Breach," when he pointed out that he hadn't taken the Hippocratic Oath and thus wasn't bound by it?

You've got a better memory than me, but I'm sure you're right.

Actually, although the term is one I've heard used many times I've never known exactly what the oath was, until I looked it up just now. If the wikipedia article is to be trusted then I'm not surprised that Phlox was scornful about it.

[Alelou]

I thought Phlox said his oath was to do no harm, but it didn't say anything about not causing pain.

Yep, here it is:

REED: It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain.
PHLOX: It's unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like. A positive attitude is vital to the healing process. The more you complain the longer your recovery is likely to take.

This is Phlox at his most annoying -- not only inflicting pain, but giving you new age crap about how your complaining makes it worse.

Anyway, if you ask me, pain is harm. Unfortunately, it's the lesser harm.

[WarpGirl]

I very much doubt that Phlox was saying that he thought it was right to cause a patient pain. He was merely using an extreme example on how his view of medical ethics, and the human counterpart differ. MU Phlox is another story. Truth be told I disagreed morally with his refusal to help the people in Dear Doctor, and the creation of Sim. But I never saw him harm a patient or cause them pain. Phlox is a good man, but unfortunately humans judge in human terms.

[Rigil Kent]

I was under the impression that Phlox was surprised at Sim's level of sapience. Admittedly, it's been a while since I watched the ep, but I seem to recall being under the impression that he was expecting the symbiont to be little more than the equivalent of vatgrown cloned organs, not a living, thinking being.

*shrug*

[WarpGirl]

Well, if that was the case why was he so concerned about recommending it? To tell the truth I'd let Phlox treat me before I let Bashir within ten miles of me. I have a lot of experience with Doctors and there have been some very unethical from the human POV in there. Compared to them Phlox is a saint. I like Phlox.

[Distracted]

I thought Phlox said his oath was to do no harm, but it didn't say anything about not causing pain.

Yep, here it is:

REED: It can't be ethical to cause a patient this much pain.
PHLOX: It's unethical to harm a patient. I can inflict as much pain as I like. A positive attitude is vital to the healing process. The more you complain the longer your recovery is likely to take.

This is Phlox at his most annoying -- not only inflicting pain, but giving you new age crap about how your complaining makes it worse.

Anyway, if you ask me, pain is harm. Unfortunately, it's the lesser harm.

This scene is also quite obviously played for laughs. Or at least I thought it was funny. But then, I have a sick sense of humor. And there's a wish fulfillment element in there, too. For health care providers who spend all day forcing ourselves to be upbeat and encouraging to our patients while listening to them whine non-stop about everything possible it can be therapeutic to imagine actually saying something like that to a patient.

[WarpGirl]

You should hear some of the conversations I have with my Primary Care Physican.

[Distracted]

It's different when my patients actually have something to complain about. But when I get the ones that come in for reasons so minor that I can't fathom why they bothered to make an appointment (I saw someone yesterday whose chief complaint was a sore throat for ONE HOUR ), or because they drank too much or ate week old leftovers, or because they've been walking all around campus in flipflops in 30 degree weather and now they have blisters, or because they had intimate contact with someone they shouldn't have, and now they feel "too bad" to go to class and they want an excuse and for me to "fix them now"... well... let's just say I provide a lot of reassurance to young people who just need a "mommy" to tell them everything's gonna be all right. One of the up sides of college health is that virtually everyone I see is perfectly healthy, has done something stupid to somehow catch something or injure themselves, and all they really need is to stop doing whatever dumb thing they were doing and wait a couple of weeks and they will feel better. That's also the down side of college health.

[WarpGirl]

Yep. I get it.

[Cogito]

In that case I bet you really like Phlox's treatments, which often strike me as more unpleasant than the thing they are curing. I bet his patients dread going to see him and wonder what nasty thing they'll be directed to consume or apply. This feels to me like 'old school' medicine, just as it should be - if you're willing to endure the treatment then maybe there really is something wrong with you, but you sure as hell won't bother the doctor if you can avoid it.

[WarpGirl]

Actually I quite liked the fact that Phlox was into the 22nd century equivilant of hollistic medicine. All of the other Trek doctors were such snobs with high tech treatments and a hypospray for everything. Some doctors today are the same giving a pill for anything concievable. Sometimes chicken soup and tea works!

[Kotik]

Actually I quite liked the fact that Phlox was into the 22nd century equivilant of hollistic medicine. All of the other Trek doctors were such snobs with high tech treatments and a hypospray for everything. Some doctors today are the same giving a pill for anything concievable. Sometimes chicken soup and tea works!

Phlox was a 22nd century Alchemist. He was played for comic relief for most of the series.

[WarpGirl]

I would disagree with that. While Phlox obviously did have a well developed sense of humor, and the differences in cultural sensibilities often did lead to amusing awkwardness. I felt John Billingsly managed to portray a very well rounded personality, with virtues, flaws, and vulnerabilities. Quite a feat considering he wasn't given a great deal of material on par with his abilities as an actor. But then again, nobody was, not even Mr. Bakula.

[putaro]

Phlox was a 22nd century Alchemist.

Alchemist has the connotation of bumbling around, and being guided more by mysticism than by reason. Phlox may have been unconventional but his treatments worked and were based on his vast knowledge. They weren't magical cures and they weren't portrayed as such.

He was played for comic relief for most of the series.

I'd say that he provided comic relief, mainly through the crew's reactions to the treatments, but Phlox wasn't portrayed as a fool nor was he regarded as such by the crew.

[WarpGirl]

Thank you!