BBC Radio 4 LW

Inside the Ethics Committee

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Religion & Ethics

Joan Bakewell and a panel of experts wrestle with the ethics of a real-life medical case.

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to wrestle with the ethics arising from a real-life medical case.

Inside the Ethics Committee: Series 10

Inside the Ethics Committee: Series 10: Episode 1: Treating Teenagers

Episode 1

Episode 1: Treating Teenagers

Series 10

Treating Teenagers

BBC Radio 4 - Inside the Ethics Committee, Series 10, Treating Teenagers

A diabetic teenager who struggles to take the treatment she needs to stay well.

May is 14 and has type 1 diabetes. She feels her condition controls her and she struggles to take her insulin. What should the medical team do? With Joan Bakewell.

The teenage years are full of change and confusion, creating tensions for parents and children. How much worse can things get when a long-term illness becomes part of the mix?

May is fourteen years old and has type-1 diabetes. After being diagnosed at the age of seven, she initially copes well but, within a few months, she struggles to take her insulin regularly.

The diabetic team try on numerous occasions to help her, and her mum, to manage May's diabetes better, but she doesn't see the point. The risks don't seem real to her and she wants to be normal, like her friends.

At the age of eleven, May is admitted to hospital three times with dangerously high blood sugars. By the age of twelve, the long term complications the team have warned May about, start to appear.

Now on the brink of adolescence, May can't cope. She feels controlled by her diabetes and when those around her try to help, it feels like pressure.

What lengths can the medical team go to to encourage May to take the treatment she needs? Can they force her to take insulin?

Joan Bakewell and her panel discuss the issues.

Producer: Beth Eastwood.

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Joan Bakewell and a panel of experts tackle the ethics involved in a real hospital case.

Joan Bakewell is joined by a panel of experts to tackle the ethics involved in a real hospital case.

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Inside the Ethics Committee

Series 10

Episode 1: Treating Teenagers

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