The Right to Medical Care
In my worldview, I believe that every individual should have a right to medical care. Medical care basically means treatment by medical experts for a particular illness. Poor health brings pain or other uncomfortable feelings to a person; therefore, no one should be left in such a condition, especially when something can be done to stop their pain. One of the important, if not the most important, aspects of human life is good health because poor health hinders everything a person can do, such as going to school, working, maintaining relationships, and pursuing one’s goals. Essentially, good health is the determinant of having a quality life. As such, I believe that medical treatment is a basic need that no one should be denied.
Further, I also believe there should be instances whereby health care should not be considered a right. Nevertheless, there are exceptions that a medical practitioner can deny patients the right to care. These include when the treatment is abusive to the doctor, when the treatment is beyond the practitioner’s ability, and when the treatment violates the practitioner’s duties as a physician like the do no harm mandate (McLean, 2016). I support these instances because they are logical, and their main aim is to protect medical care experts. In addition, a medical practitioner can fail to administer care to a patient when the patient says so. This is based on basic ethical doctrines of medicine that a patient should have the autonomy to decide whether they want to receive treatment or not (Pirotte & Benson, 2020). Other than that, nothing, including race, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, criminal history, or religion, should be used as an excuse not to administer medical care.
References
McLean, S. A. (Ed.). (2016). First do no harm: Law, ethics and healthcare. Routledge.
Pirotte, B. D., & Benson, S. (2020). Refusal of care.
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Question
According to your personal worldview, should individuals have a right to medical care? Are there any instances when medical care should not be considered a right?