The Cure

Chapter 22

     DOCTOR CARTER BACKED AWAY TO THE corner of the room and took a seat to digest the newest curveball that had been tossed his way. The Senator's coma was going to present a new problem. The thought of giving the serum to someone who wasn't aware of what was going on around them made Xavier very uncomfortable. The last time he ever considering doing something like that he almost had a nervous breakdown, and he couldn't afford to do that right now. June seemed to realize what was bothering him and walked over to console him but didn't know what this meant for the serum. Xavier had never administered it to anyone without their full consent, and each of those times the patient was conscious enough to make that decision on their own. Xavier looked back up at David, his face clearly showing his frustration.

     "Is there any chance we can wake him up?" Xavier inquired, "Could the Senator could be woken with drugs long enough for us to speak with him?"

     "I don't think that's possible," David replied, as he was clearly unsure of what the pressing issue was. "Is there some sort of problem?"

     "This drug isn't approved by anyone, let alone considered safe." Xavier replied as he put his head into his hands.

     "It hasn't?" David said, as that was the last thing he expected to hear.

     "It's never been administered to anyone without their full, informed consent," June informed her friend, taking over the conversation. "I'm not going to sugar coat it David; some people have died taking this stuff."

     "I see your point," David said, as he walked back behind his desk, "You need the patient to be aware of the dangers before giving them something experimental. Yet, our patient is unconscious and pretty much already at death's door. We're testing him for every poison or bacteria we can think of but there are thousands of them to go through and time is not on our side. When our people finally find the answer, the Senator will probably already be dead."

     "Just the ethics of testing something like this on someone who isn't aware of it and doesn't know about it isn't fair," June countered, "Especially considering we've never tried this on this kind of ailment before!"

     "How long has this stuff been around?" David asked, somewhat confused.

     "We're talking less than two years." June answered, "It's only been used on less than a hundred people, and like I said some haven't survived the testing."

     "But those who didn't survive might have been because of age," Xavier added, "We think anyone over sixty might have been too old for their system to handle the serum. The Senator is only forty-six, so I think he should fare better especially considering he's here and under constant supervision."

     "So, what you're saying is this miracle cure is unavailable to seniors?" David repeated, as he took that detail in. "That's rather unfortunate since they are the ones who would benefit from it the most."

     "No," Xavier disagreed, "It means they can't handle that particular dosage. There's a chance if I tweek the dosage, or even try a different delivery method, it might work better and be less lethal to those over sixty."

     "Fair enough," David said, as it understood, "I supposed weight and age has always made a different to how much we prescribe."

     "Exactly," Xavier concurred, "We're actually working on an inhaler that might be less harmful to older patients."

     June was beside herself upon hearing this news. "An inhaler? That's brilliant!"

     "It was Sammy's idea actually." Xavier confessed, "We're in the early stages, but if it works it might deliver the serum in smaller does and make it less aggressive and easier for some patients to intake."