In one of my post about healthcare I posed the question, Is it a Right or Responsibility? Most people who commented said it was both but one commenter brought up that healthcare is a moral issue.
That got me thinking. Is healthcare a moral issue? And what really is morality?
So I went and looked up in Wikipedia what their definition of moral really is. And here is what they said:
But I think that Merriam-Webster states the definition of moral in a better way:
That reminded me of a story that really shows the morality of our healthcare system in a bad light.
Back in 1998 a young man was shot in the stomach while playing basketball with some friends. Now this is Chicago and unfortunately we have a lot of shootings. What make this a moral tale is that even though the boy was brought within 50 feet of an local emergency room the staff would not go and get this boy since they felt it was against hospital policy. Sadly the young man died and may not have been saved even if brought into the emergency room. But in my opinion the whole healthcare community is to blame for this tragedy.
Maybe it is against the rules to do certain things but sometime one has to stand up and do the right and moral action. This is what makes use human.
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30 Comments
Hi Joyce,
Thanks for nice article. I think that we can find many similar stories. People have the right to make mistakes, even doctors, but refusing the help that costs someone’s life is not moral.
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Hi Joyce,
it is beyond comprehension that if some ones life could be saved that rules and regulations come in the way.
What happens to doing what we can?
Why do hospitals get built why do doctors become doctors etc?
Regards,
Yorinda
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We have a different system of health care here in the U.K. to your’s on the other side of the pond although I understand that there is a mover to get it closer to ours.
The problem here is that we only hear about the “Bad stories” such as the guy who got shot whilst there are millions of other stories of moral actions that never get told.
One thing over here though is that, because our heath care is free, we do get lots of people coming into the country who are ill and need care. I’m not sure of the morality in that…
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I am always wondering when people across the pond say that their healthcare is FREE! Nothing is free and someway you are paying for it. I sure it is by higher taxes, so it is not really for free. Now you have people coming in from other countries and the system is being drained. That’s why people have to take more responsibility for their own health.
I think that healthcare is adrift for so many reasons. I believe that once we get back to standard nutrition and stop pushing pharmaceuticals down people’s throats we will have less sickness and less need to visit the doctor as a whole.
It is very “not human” to let someone die over policies. I agree Joyce.
There are so many angles to look at when it comes to healthcare. I think a good start would be to teach wholesome nutrition and put better practices in place so that no one lays on the street with no help.
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You would think that healthcare exists to take care of the people at all costs. It shouldn’t be about money and there should never be issues such as the one that you state here. When it comes down to it, there should be help available to anyone who needs it regardless of the situation.
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Joyce,
Having spent some time in the healthy eating/weight loss arena there is much to contemplate in what you say. I have felt obliged in the past to let someone know that what they eat might just reduce the quality of their life and even shorten their life. But, what do you do when someone refuses to acknowledge their part in the problem and are unwilling to take action. More and more I’ve seen this and it has me looking to make a difference in an entirely different arena out of frustration.
Thanks for provoking this discussion.
RICK
It is frustrating when it comes to people trying to change their lives. Unfortunately, most of the time people need to have a crisis in their lives to make them change.
Hi Joyce,
Morality is interesting in healthcare. as a parent with very strong opinions about how I want to see my children cared for, this morality issue comes up often when i run up against what the medical fraternity feels I should be doing for my kids so that they can be sure they will not be sued.
As a highly qualified alternative health practitioner, I believe I have the necessary knowledge to make the decisions I do and I am willing to take the stand to uphold my opinion. I do understand that there may be cases of parents wanting to refuse treatment when they don’t have experience or knowledge that backs that wish. It is a moral dilemma and I can see both sides. However, I wish there could be more common sense prevail rather than standing by the letter of the law which is often ridiculous in practice.
Thanks for raising this issue of morality.
Clare
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Although I don’t have any children I would be fighting the medical community with all the vacinnations that a child get. Especially the ones for young girls to prevent HPV.
I don’t like “rules”, I think there are too many! I know we have to have them to keep control, but half of them are unnecessary and probably made up by people who haven’t thought them through, and considered the end results.
bye for now, Julieanne
Jullianne took the words right out of my mouth! I know there must me rules, but sometimes people don’t think them through properly. What a shame a youngster has to die because of the “rules.”
Donna Merrill
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Hi Joyce,
This is crazy… citizens have a “Good Samaritan” law to protect them while giving care to someone in need. I don’t understand why a hospital wouldn’t respond, or send an emergency team out to him. So your question is “Is healthcare a moral issue”? I think are the “rules” and the people who create them, moral? Tough questions for such a complex and complicated area as healthcare is. I would have just helped the young man and try to save a precious life.
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This is just a small example of how stupid some ot the rules are in healthcare and other fields. Some rules are made to be broken when it comes to saving lives.
Very interesting question you have posed her Joyce!
My brother in law fell down on the side of the road while waiting for a bus. He had a heart attack. One of the people waiting at the bus stop was an off duty ambulance attendant, who started performing CPR.
The ambulance came and took him to the hospital where he had open heart surgery. He had to stay in the hospital for two weeks. He came to stay with us to recover as he had no where else to go.
Within a month he wanted to go back to work because he had no cash for cigarettes or beer. He left our home shortly after and we have not heard from him since. That was four years ago.
We here in Canada have worked very hard to have a medical system that serves all of our citizens. Everyone gets attention! Although sometimes the lineups are very long and people go to other places where they can pay for faster service.
I have heard recently that the hospitals in the Philippines are excellent and that more than a few Canadians are heading there to have surgeries performed.
Surgery in other countries have become very popular. The cost are lower and the healthcare is very good. The hard part is getting there especially when you travel to India.
The moral question is would they do the same if young man shot was their son, brother, cousin, or friend.
Rules were made for the timid of heart. While some stand for something most stand for intimidation of those to weak to think for themself.
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Sad to say, the morality of health care these days is very low. I have heard so many stories about the failures of doctors, nurses etc. A friend of mine have encountered situations like that, his mom died due to the doctor’s carelessness. I hope that one day, they will have the chance to clean their reputations…
You’re right, it sounds like it was a very sad and unfortunate situation. Since I believe your point is that we need to stand up and do the right thing, I guess my question is what would you suggest be done to correct it, and what steps can be taken now toward that end? Thanks!
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Wow: it’s a small world. I actually worked for that same hospital, although it was after the event you refer to happened. It was definitely morally wrong, and in the end the whole hospital had to shut down due to ongoing financial issues: the wrong choice they made in the moment resulted in a loss of healthcare for the whole community for years to come.
I also believe we each have a personal responsibility to ourselves to make the choice to take care of our own exercise and nutrition, but that is subject for a whole other article.
There was a news story this week of a woman and her son charged with homocide: A Wisconsin woman and her son abandoned their 70-year-old relative after she fell to the floor, going out for pizza rather than administering aid, prosecutors alleged this week. The relative died two days later.
Your story and this one are similar. But were the people in the ER charged with a crime when they ignored the young man shot and bleeding?
And these are the more obvious moral issues. Personally, I think that when we collectively make healthcare inaccessible due to financial barriers, we are as a society not much different than the two examples, your story and the news story I mentioned.
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Hello Joyce,
It seems a terrible waste of life when a policy, law or belief prevent people form getting medical attention. He in France we have not so many shootings as there are in the USA but I know their are some religions which prevent certain types of medical treatment for being tried. Like blood transfusions for example. Very thought provoking post. Wishing you a healthy weekend
SadieMichaela Harris recently posted..By: Sadie
To me the moral thing would have been to try to save the boy!! Who cares what policy is!! That is just the way it is.. In Canada we have a different medical system, but in the moral of things, isn’t it our obligation to look after each other? I am sure that there is a lot of interesting remarks on this!! That is my opinion!!
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Interesting post. I think morality in health care is 50-50, but I also think a big part of it is the fault of the consumer, aka patients. We’ve turned this country into a litigious society, so much so that we’ve scared health care providers from doing the right thing because they could be sued, and the cost of malpractice is so high that you have a number of health care professionals willing to do things more for money to survive than doing what’s right.
In the case of your story, that happens all across the country, and it’s because of the fear of lawsuits. Waiting for an ambulance to pick someone up and push them literally feet into the emergency room is idiocy, but that’s where our society has led health care. It’s easy to blame just the health care community, but everyone has to take a piece of the blame.
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I agree with you about the lawsuits.
Oh, this can be a volatile subject…much like religion and politics. I am not a bleeding heart. I have always been one to believe that people need to take responsibility for themselves/their actions. If they fail to do so, they should suffer the consequences of their actions. I do realize that it is not all black and white–there are gray areas. We do not all belief in the same way and I feel that this is trouble with morality in health care.
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Hello Joyce
I agree that there is a moral issue in healthcare as well as in business. We have no excuse for conforming to a standard of right behavior. What would the people at the hospital have said if that had been their child treated in such a way. The guiding light of what is right seems to be missing in our culture.
Thanks
Perry A Davis Jr
Music City
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Hi Joyce,
I’m a big fan for doing what is right versus what policy states.
I remember taking a first aid course and being warned against treating anyone without their consent because people who have been saved sued their rescuer for molesting them. Of course, nothing would stop me from helping but I know it would stop some people. It’s a strange world.
I think we accept a lot of compromise when it comes to what we feel is right to do and what we actually do. The amount of things we accept that we know is ‘wrong’ or goes against our morals… if we saw inside the labs that test on animals or inside factory farms would we continue to buy the products? We know it goes on but most people still support it.
All the best,
Emma
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Hi Joyce:
These types of stories break my heart. I don’t understand how these types of things can happen in a country like the USA. We have become a culture that has put policy above people.
Kevin
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I work in a hospital and I see the morality question in play every day. But I think it can be at the hospital administration level but more commonly at the level of the practitioner.
Each doctor or nurse has their own set of morals that they use as their compass to guide them through difficult decisions. Almost every doctor I know has very high standards and a set of morals to match. The whole idea of “do no harm”.
But occasionally you run into a bad apple. I guess its no different than any other field.
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