“How do you know that Grace hasn’t had her oligodendroglioma for five years or more?” I ask.
“I know that she wasn’t diagnosed until just a few months ago,” he says. “Do you have any compelling reason to believe that she has, in fact, had her condition for significantly longer than she’s been exhibiting symptoms?”
“It’s hard to say,” I tell him. “Oligodendrogliomas are notoriously slow-growing, especially in phase two, where Grace is.”
“So your position is speculative. Did you know that one of the other conditions for entry into the trial is that the patient must have been on chemo and/or radiation for a significant portion of their five or more years with the condition?”
“Define significant,” I answer.
“Dr. Churchill,” Dr. Preston says, “I hope you know that I’ve always liked you and respected you as a doctor. You graduated top of your class, and your connections, specifically through your former professor, Dr. Marcum, have provided you with the opportunity to have your own office in this hospital at a very young age and without the seniority that many of the other doctors in this hospital have. You do know, however, that having your own office does not exempt you from disciplinary action from this hospital at large or by me directly, do you not?”
“I’m aware,” I tell him.
“In fact,” Dr. Preston continues, “you must be aware that any breach of hospital policy, ethical codes of conduct, or the law is grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including my recommendation that your license be revoked either temporarily or permanently, I assume.”
“Yes,” I tell him.
“That being the case, let me ask you again: did you knowingly involve your patient, Grace Miller, in a trial for which she didn’t qualify because you have a sexual relationship with her?”
“She’s doing really well in the trial,” I tell Dr. Preston, as if that’s going to make any difference.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he asks. “Not only have you put your career at risk, you’ve put this hospital, not to mention the clinical trial for JH813, at risk.”
“It was the right thing to do.” I’m already fucked. I may as well say what I think.
“In no way is that statement true,” Dr. Preston says. “You leave me no choice but to suspend you pending a hearing regarding your disturbing conduct, Dr. Churchill, effective immediately. Also, I should inform you that your patient has been removed from the clinical trial of JH813 and her results have been discarded due to the manner in which she was included in the trial.”
“You can’t kick her out of the trial!” I shout. I’m not even trying to save myself anymore.
“I don’t know what you and she have discussed, but it must have occurred to you that this would happen if you went down this path,” Dr. Preston says, scratching his recently shaved face. “We have rules for a reason, Dr. Churchill. They’re not only for the protection of the hospital or for companies that may be doing drug trials, they’re also there to protect patients, and even you as a doctor. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I had a chance to help someone that needed help,” I tell him.
“Would she have died had you not put her into the trial?”
“Maybe not immediately,” I tell him, “but no matter how slow oligodendrogliomas in this phase may grow, there’s always the chance that they’ll progress to anaplastic oligodendroglioma, or that, given enough time, it could cause an event that would prove fatal, so yes, I do believe I was doing the best thing for my patient in these circumstances.”
“You seem to have a rather high opinion of what you’ve done. In what way
did your sexual relationship treat her oligodendroglioma?”
Yeah, he’s got me on that one.
“Our relationship didn’t begin, as it were, until after she was in the trial,” I tell him.
“But you got her into the trial because you had feelings for her, isn’t that so?”
“She was enrolled in the trial before anything significant happened between the two of us,” I tell him.
“From what I heard,” Dr. Preston says, “whatever you’re referring to as ‘significant’ happened before her first day in the trial, though, thus meaning she was still your patient at the time.”
“Where are you getting all this?”
Could Yuri really be so pissed off that I’m risking my career for Grace that she would put it in jeopardy out of spite?
“It doesn’t matter,” Dr. Preston says. “What does matter is that as of now, you no longer have rights at this hospital. I’ll need your ID badge. I’ll let you know when we’ve scheduled your meeting.”
“You would have done the same thing I did,” I tell him. “Personal relationship or not, you know how seldom it can be that we get a win around here. I know we save lives every day, but there are so many that we simply can’t do anything for. We can throw medication at them, but you and I both know there are some conditions that are simply going to win in the end. Whether it’s a day or 20 years, if we can help our patients live longer even by a little bit, don’t you think it’s our responsibility as doctors to do it?”