I knew I was in trouble when my mother’s voice was an octave higher using “Eugene Ralph Dorio” which meant better move it or straighten up. But for my friend, it was never a mouthful nor in anger that we would continue to address him as “Jimmy James Barber Junior the Third.” We had a Jimmy in the neighborhood as well as a Junior, so in avoiding confusion, throwing out his multi-names just rolled off our tongues.
His uncle was Curt Flood, golden glove center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, and is best known for bringing change to baseball player’s ability to arbitrate and go into free agency. To me, he was not only a great player, but ultimately had tremendous impact on the sport and business of baseball.
There are many human achievements that have impact on society and make life a lot easier. Without question, the car and flying have moved the human species forward. Most recently though, DNA testing has allowed us to discover the origins of man, genetic predisposition to disease, and provide evidence in criminal cases. Despite the science though, it has taken decades to accept this technology in the court system.
As a physician, I look beyond the horizon to determine what will impact medicine and society to make life easier, so I present to you a multi-name dissertation of technology being rapidly generated in our direction.
Let me introduce to you the fMRI, which stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging. Simply speaking, the fMRI is a video of the brain, whereas the well-known MRI is a photo of the brain. My first thought was could this technology be used as a lie detector, placing people in a Woody Allen-like chamber and scanning their brain for the truth…or the lie?
My fMRI experts tell me it will never be 100% accurate…and I believe them. But no medical test I know can be perfect. Your chest x-ray, lab tests, and treadmill exams are intrinsically faulty from the start…some from human error, others because science just isn’t good enough in correcting these faults. For instance, your treadmill stress test is only about 75% accurate…meaning if it is negative, there is a 75% chance you don’t have heart disease. Conversely, there is still a 25% chance you do!
How have we improved on this? We added a scan after injecting a radioactive drug, and when used in conjunction with the treadmill test improves the accuracy to 95%. Now if you have a negative treadmill and scan, there is a 95% chance you don’t have heart disease, and only a 5% chance you do.
What happens if we were to combine the fMRI with the previously used polygraph test? Studies are presently under way. Can you see how tremendous the impact of having an accurate lie detector will be to our society? You can’t lie!
What will that do to politicians, criminals, hospital CEOs and Board of Directors, and cheating spouses if we were to ask them to take a fMRI and simultaneous polygraph test for accountability? Did you have sex with that women President Clinton? Did you kill your ex-wife OJ? Drama will be swept off our TV screens and grocery store tabloids will go down the tubes.
But wait. Politicians, lawyers, and influential lying people can control whether fMRI evidence will be allowed to be introduced in court. Sure this will happen, but let’s face it, those telling the truth will run to the fMRI, and those not, will run away from it.
Not surprisingly, there is now a company called “No Lie fMRI” in California that will scan your brain and give you a document (not admissible in court) to prove you are telling the truth.
Impact. It is on our doorstep. Next time when I see Jimmy James Barber Junior the Third I’ll ask him if I can just call him Jim…that will make life a lot easier.
Gene Dorio, M.D.- Guest Commentary
Gene Dorio, M.D., is a local physician and not affiliated with “No Lie fMRI”. His commentary represents his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with including the Medical Executive Committee and Medical Staff of Henry Mayo Hospital, or those of the West Ranch Beacon.
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