Medical Ethics Essay Research Paper Case Study

Medical Ethics Essay, Research Paper

Case Study:

Mary Wilson is a thirty-five year old woman who lives in Tennessee. She was diagnosed with a malignant cancer about a year and half ago. She has been treated many times with a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation. The treatments have not prevented the spread of her cancer. Her health is deteriorating as the days pass. She gets a second opinion on her health status, but the other doctor does not have any medical solutions to better her health. Her does learn from her first doctor that she does have a possibility of survival if she participates in an experimental operation. This operation involves a bone marrow transplant. This operation only gives her the possibility of survival. They never tell her that she is going to be completely cured of the cancer. Her HMO refuses to pay for her operation because the operation is experimental. She decides to appeal to an internal review board. Her request was denied. After the rejection, she decides to take her case to court to force the health maintenance organization (HMO) to pay for the operation because she does not have enough money to pay for the operation. HMO is an example of managed care wherein a fixed annual fee is paid to an organized group of physicians and hospitals, which then supplies the individual with most kinds of needed medical services at no additional charge. The case takes a couple of months to deliberate and decide on an outcome. By the time the court decided to rule in favor for her, she had already passed away due to her cancer. This whole ordeal probable would have never happened if our health care system were better met for the whole public. Everyone should have the right to have equal health care. Would this have occurred if Mary had the same health care as everybody else.

The Issues:

1. Is there a right to health care.

2. How do we provide health care to everyone.

3. Why is there a need for change of the current system.

The Analysis:

Everyone in the United States should have the right to health care. The United States is currently faced with a health care crisis. The main element of this crisis is the lack of any program to provide health care for everyone in the society. When we speak of health care, we speak of enough care to achieve sufficient welfare, opportunity and a reasonably full and satisfying life. That there are people forced to do without needed health care for primarily financial reasons is morally intolerable. Society has an obligation to provide health care. The government has the ultimate responsibility to see that this obligation is met and if not, then it is sanctioning a situation that is morally and politically wrong.

Since all human beings are vulnerable to disease and all die, health care has a special interpersonal significance: it expresses and nurtures bonds of empathy and compassion (832). Health care has a special meaning because of its role in the beginning and the end of a human s life. Society s commitment to health care reflects some of the basic attitudes to be apart of the human community.

We need to begin by asking what is a right. A right is a principle that specifies something, which an individual should be free or have to do. Also it is entitlement, something you possess free and clear, and something you can exercise without asking anyone else s permission. There are two kinds of rights that need to be discussed to understand the rights to health care. Moral rights is one that is stated in or derived from the principles of a moral theory (Munson 828). According to Ross Theory, people have a duty to treat other people benevolently. The law does not recognize this duty so I guess you could treat someone harshly and not violate any laws. Once again, Ross theory says we have a prima facie duty not to injure or kill anyone. This duty along with the right is reflected in the body of the statutory law and common law that deals with bodily harm done to others. In our society, we need to rely on ethical theories, such as Ross , as a basis for evaluating our laws. If we were to violate any rights derived from ethical theories, then we would have a bad law. A moral theory could be the basis for reform of old laws. Essentially there isn t a clear line that separates the moral and the legal.

Political rights means that it is required by our political commitments or principles (Munson 828). Our society is committed to individual autonomy and equality, among other values. It is understood that everyone in our society is free to seek health care and when properly arranged, to receive the care. Also at the same time, physicians and hospitals are required to provide health care because seeking care does not imply that care should be provided. Only if a contract is signed between the patient and the doctor, then the doctor is required by law to give that patient medical attention. If we are going to make claims that health care is a right: everyone should be entitled to health care regardless of financial status , then we need to be able to support our claim. Kant s principle that every person is of inherent and equal worth might be used to support the claim that every person has an equal right to medical care, simply by virtue of being a person (Munson 829). Justification can also be in term of the commitment of society. A society that embodies ju