The Boy in the Bubble

Even if you closely followed the story of David Vetter as it unfolded during the 1970s and early '80s or saw the 1976 TV movie starring John Travolta, The Boy in the Bubble astonishes with its detailed account of one of the most controversial experiments in the history of medicine. Originally broadcast on PBS's excellent American Experience series, this heart-wrenching, highly dramatic documentary serves as both refresher course on the Vetter story, and a retrospective survey of its moral and ethical implications. Known around the world as the “Boy in the Bubble" due to his rare, incurable condition (SCID, or severe combined immunodeficiency), which left him with no defense against simple germs and bacteria, Vetter was a charming, handsome boy who essentially became a guinea pig in an unprecedented experiment: living exclusively in a specially made, germ-free "bubble," leaving him able to interact with others but physically isolated from the world around him. As his parents, doctors, and attentive medical staff well knew, David would die if removed from his custom-built environment, and he became the focus of an intense medical/ethical debate, especially as he grew older and began to exhibit signs of psychological duress and other symptoms of lifelong isolation. Examining the Vetter case from all sides (David died in February 1984 at the age of 12 from a dormant virus in a bone marrow transplant), this provocative documentary asks hard questions: Did David's parents do the right thing? Was his life worth living, or was his death the inevitable result of a prolonged experiment? Featuring interviews with those who were closest to Vetter's case (including his parents), The Boy in the Bubble presents one of the most morally complex stories in medical history, in which even the best of intentions were shaded with doubt and carried potentially devastating aftershocks. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Shannon)