Are their any grounds when a doctor can refuse to treat a patient? Speaking hypothetically, what if no other doctor was capable of treating this patient, perhaps he requires a rare form of surgery that nobody else can perform, should the doctor be morally obligated to help then? To complicate matters, what if the patient and the doctor had a past history together, as in the case of the Rape of Dr Willis. Is the doctor still morally required to give help?
Most of us appreciate the value of human life and hold it the upmost regard. To this end, does this therefore mean there is no moral difference between a health professional's duty to help somebody involved in, say, a road accident and somebody that isn't contractually a medical practioner but is equally competant and has all the necessary medical skills? For clarity's sake, the health professional in question wasn't called to the scene but was off duty and just happened to be passing by at the time of the accident.
2006-08-29
23:57:47
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9 answers
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asked by
MrSandman
5
in
Medicine