bacta the basics

[sensiblecrow]

We all know that bacta is the go-to healing tool in the Star Wars universe, but even science that's basically magic must have some limits.

What can't bacta fix?

Potential sub-questions:
- How do people deal with conditions that can't be treated by bacta?
- Are there people who can't use bacta at all?
- How has bacta affected medical research and treatment progress?
- Why might someone refuse bacta treatment?

Comments

[eatingcroutons]

There have been several characters in the EU with allergies to bacta - Ton Phanan comes to mind. He had a bunch of cybernetic body parts because he was unable to be treated by typical methods. I think there was also at least one character who died because they were stuck in a bacta tank by people who didn't realise they had an allergy?

On the sociopolitical side of things, there was a lot of interesting stuff around bacta as a limited resource in The Bacta War, but it's been ages since I read the X-Wing books so I only remember the broad strokes...

[sensiblecrow]

It seems like one of the conclusions this thread is coming to is that bacta is actually absurdly limited relative to how it's often treated as a miracle cure.

Bacta tanks freak me out on a visceral level, imagining having an allergic reaction in one is terrifying. There also seems to be a pretty flippant attitude toward medical consent in SW, which makes sense given overall social context but is interesting nonetheless.