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Razmik Stepanyan

Professor. Mahta Rosenfeld

Engl 113B

11 April 2018

Medical Refusal

Do health care providers have the right to refuse to treat patients? Health care is necessary and

should be free for all individuals. Doctors cannot let their personal beliefs get in the way of

medical treatment. Everyone human being should have access to doctors to be treated and helped

with professionalism and care. If a person needs immediate medical attention, both private and

public care facilities must take steps and stabilize the individual. By refusing to provide

treatment, doctors put patients’ life at risk who will suffer from pain and it can result to death.

Supporters of health care refusal believe that doctors can refuse to treat patients based on their

religious and moral beliefs; however, everyone deserves to be treated no matter their financial

status and religion. Moreover, people should not be discriminated by their orientation and

morals.

Those that believe doctors have a right to refuse to treat patients maintain that doctors cannot

go against their religion and moral beliefs. Critics also point out that doctors can refuse to treat a

patient if he/she is financially incapable to cover up for future dues. Critics believe that if doctors

don’t support LGBTQI people they can refuse a treatment based on their personal beliefs;

"health providers should have the ability to live their religious beliefs without fear of workplace

discrimination”( Sen. James Lankford). Supporters believe doctors can refuse patients when they

show up frequently in emergency rooms with no emergency cases because they think that
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patients who show up frequently don’t really need to be cured and they just waste doctor’s time

and efforts.

Hippocratic Oath shields health care providers to follow their promise and cure everyone in

need. When people decide to become a health care provider they sign themselves up in an

important mission where they got to put their own beliefs aside and help a person in need.

Doctors cannot judge anyone from his/her appearance or the way they talk and think. If a person

is in need and he is in pain doctors should do their best to help and ease the pain. The Oath

guides doctors to do only “beneficial” procedures by not harming a living life.(

www.britannica.com) If a doctor doesn’t follow his promise that came from 400 BC, it means

he is not a professional; thus, only professionals should take this important position who can

perform helpful procedures by rejecting personal and religious beliefs. Professionals should

understand that their mission is only to help patients who need help and they should leave their

own perspectives outside of the hospital before entering to work with patients.

Doctors should respect patients’ privacy and help them to relieve their accurate symptoms

without being afraid for future treatments. Doctors are professionals mastered in their own

medical field; moreover, when they go to work they need to think only saving human beings. If a

health care provider is against LGBTQI people it is only his problem; thus, he must help a

patient in need no matter what their orientation or sexual preferences are; moreover, the picture

on the left side illustrates an embarrassed patient

who feels uncomfortable from being engulfed by

doctors whom he doesn’t trust to tell his symptoms

because he feels that he’ll be discriminated and

hated by the professionals because of his

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homosexual life. Doctors must keep the privacy of their patients because if he doesn’t gain the

trust from LGBTQI patients people won’t inform and tell the doctor their symptoms correctly

which can lead to harmful injuries on long run; people who live their life in a different way

doesn’t make them second class citizens. LQGTQI people should be treated equally as others

because they are human beings who just want to improve their lifespan and doctors should only

help and not impede.

Doctors are responsible for their patients’ discretion and comfort. For instance, the Duty of

Confidentiality of Professionals protects patients’ privacy, so people can openly share their

symptoms and complains with their health care provider. Doctors are not allowed to reveal any

kind of information without patients’ approval. For example, if a 16 years old teenage girl visits

a doctor and tells the doctor about her sexual life or using illegal drugs doctors are prohibited by

the law to tell her parents about any treatment received by their daughter. Furthermore, if the

doctor fails to follow the Duty of Confidentiality of Professionals patients can take legal action

against the health care provider by the disciplinary council. According to the Los Angeles

Charter of Human Rights and Freedom, “If the professional did not respect your right to

confidentiality, it can impose penalties that range from a warning to not being allowed to work in

the profession’(www.dhcs.ca.gov).

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires

anyone coming to an emergency department to be stabilized and treated, regardless of their

insurance status or ability to pay(acep.org) EMTALA requires Medicare-participating hospitals

with emergency departments to screen and treat the emergency medical conditions of patients in

a non-discriminatory manner to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay, insurance status,

national origin, race, creed or color. Anyone who requests a help must receive a medical
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screening examination to determine whether an emergency medical condition exists.

Examination cannot be left behind and professionals should work immediately without asking

for methods of payment or insurance coverage. If an emergency medical condition exists,

treatment must be provided until the emergency medical condition is resolved or stabilized.

If the patients feel that their health is in danger by a health care provider who refuses to treat

patients can file a complaint towards the doctor. For instance, the law gives approximately 45

days to a medical examiner to review the complaint and decide whether the doctor did fail to

follow his Oath and patient is being refused unfairly by a healthcare provider. After the medical

examiner decides that the doctor is wrong, patient can file a lawsuit against the healthcare

provider in the federal court. Furthermore, if the patient isn’t satisfied by the medical examiner

he/she can ask for the review committee to review the case and scrutinize the conclusion;” If you

do not receive the commissioner’s conclusions, you can contact the Los Angeles County

Ombudsman”( http://dpss.lacounty.gov). US citizens should never feel discriminated and be

refused a health care for any reasons because there are laws that protect people, and no one

should be left alone with no medical help.

Health care providers should treat everyone equally by ignoring their own beliefs aside.

Everyone deserves for free health care and should have an easy access to hospitals without being

discriminated or hated by the professionals. It is doctors’ job to help people in need and make

their life better. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act lacks doctors ‘ability to

refuse treatment for healthcare providers during emergencies; therefore, it’s doctors obligation to

take care of the patient till is no threat to patient’s health. No one should be ashamed or timid

while relieving their symptoms to a professional because by not expressing all complains

professionals can be uninformed of a certain symptom which may lead in the future to severe
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injuries or even death. Professionals should follow their promise towards the Hippocratic Oath

by making health care available to everyone.

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Works Cited

Kent, Jennifer. “Health Care Services.” 05 Feb. 2018,

http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/services/MH/Pages/MH-Ombudsman.aspx. Accessed 01 Apr. 2018.

Kodjak, Alison. “Trump Admin Will Protect Health Workers Who Refuse Services On Religious

Grounds” NPR Science Desk, 18 Jan. 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-

shots/2018/01/18/578811426/trump-will-protect-health-workers-who-reject-patients-on-

religious-grounds. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Hippocratic oath” Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc, 15

Nov. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hippocratic-oath. Accessed 05 Apr. 2018.

American College of Emergency Physicians. “EMTALA” 18 Oct. 2017,

https://www.acep.org/news-media-top-banner/emtala/#sm.00013rdqw22hxdwxrul2qqrtsyylf.

Accessed 28 March. 2018.

Le Protecteur du citoyen. “To file a complaint” 15 Jan. 2018,

https://protecteurducitoyen.qc.ca/en/contact-us. Accessed 04 Apr. 2018.

Ziac, Linda. “Patient Relationship” Greenwich Patch, 12 Feb. 2015,

https://patch.com/connecticut/greenwich/evolving-challenges-doctor-patient-relationship-0.

Accessed 08 Apr. 2018