The Death Of Bob Marley -- When Spirituality and Religion Conflict with Medicine
"Money can't buy life"
These were Bob Marley's last words to his son Ziggy, before he passed away from the devastating spread of cancer to his lungs and brain at the age of only 36. The photo below is from his last year, where his weight had dropped to under 100 pounds.
His death in 1981 was tragic. Marley was a Jamaican, and an iconic proponent of the Rastafarian religion and lifestyle, which includes elements like practicing good health, the sacrament of smoking cannabis, "natural" living, promoting "livity" in the body, which, to Rastas, is the divine life energy that rests inside each human being. One way Rastas promote livity, for example, is by eating certain foods, called "Ital", which are natural, pure, unmodified foods that are from the Earth.
But what about Rastas stance on medicine?
Well it's a little complicated, but the bottom line is that Rastas believe in a union between body, mind, and soul, and choose the natural remedies, such as tonics made from herbs and bark, rather than the artificial. Since Rastafarians thought the west, referred to as "Babylon" was partaking in the devastation of the planet through the exploitation of resources, they did not want to feed into the system. The animosity toward the west was so high within Rastafarian culture that they would not accept western medicine.
Bob Marley's Illness
In 1977, Marley was found to have malignant melanoma, or skin cancer, under one of his toe nails. At first, he thought the dark spot under his nail was from a soccer injury, but that turned out not to be so. The recommendation from a western medical practitioner was to have the toe removed--an amputation. This would cut off the route for the cancer to travel to other areas of the body. It appears that Marley refused to get the amputation for religious reasons, though it's unclear to me whether he refused because he didn't want to trust a western doctor or because he was unafraid of death because he expected a reincarnation or transcendence after his death.
A Bible verse that Rastafarians hold as very important is Leviticus 21:5, which says, "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh." He may have refused because he believed surgeries to be sinful.
A Future Physician's Thoughts on the Matter
I'm just starting my medical school education, so there are lots of areas of ethics of patient care I'm thinking about. I wonder what would have come to bare if Marley had accepted the amputation. The melanoma was detected in 1977, and he died in 1981, so if he had treated it immediately, the cancer could likely have been stopped. If he had been convinced of the amputation and stayed alive until now, would he be grateful for his elongated life? When doctors know that patients are refusing a treatment that could likely be life-saving, how hard should they push to convince their patients to deny their religious convictions? These are tough questions. On one hand, the rights and beliefs of patients MUST be respected, and on the other, the duty of the doctor to utilize the most effective medical practices to stave off death and suffering must be held to.
In the end, big decisions are made by the patients who are capable of making them. Sometimes, like in the case of Bob Marley, the outcomes are unfortunate. But if he was right about transcendence and reincarnation, maybe his decision wasn't so unfortunate after all...