John Q Ethical Dilemma

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 John Q Ethical Dilemma

The film John Q by Nick Cassavetes investigates the compelling story of the Archibald

family. Family life changed significantly for Denise and John Q. Archibald after their son

Michael fainted during a baseball game. Michael's parents were terrified for their child's health

as they hurried him to the hospital (Cassavetes, 2002). After a series of tests, Dr. Turner informs

them that their son Michael has cardiomegaly and requires a heart transplant.  John Q. and his

wife Denise scramble to get the finances required to keep their child hospitalized and hence

alive. John Q tries to call his insurance company but is advised that his plan does not cover the

medical bill. John Q is enraged and bewildered that he pays monthly premiums for health

insurance but cannot use it to assist his child.

This film depicts a serious ethical problem with the concept of malevolence. The "Not

harm" oath may have been overlooked since Michael was released from the hospital in an

unstable condition when the hospital decided to release him because they were tired of waiting

for John Q to complete the down payment (Cassavetes, 2002). Cardiomegaly is a disorder

characterized by an enlarged heart. This might be the outcome of a problem such as a cardiac

valve issue (Amin & Siddiqui, 2021). In the film, there is no mention of the reason for Michael's

cardiomegaly; only his need for a heart transplant is mentioned. Michael's health and treatment

are not emphasized in the film; therefore, what the physicians did to treat him is unclear. By

sending Michael home, his family must wait for him to die. This is damaging since Michael's

family does not desire this choice and would want to rescue their kid. Because his insurance

would not fund the procedure, he is sent home to die, despite individuals in need being meant to

receive assistance. 
 The film also presents the question of justice, the equitable allocation of resources among

the people, as a key ethical concern. Even if the parents cannot afford the procedure, they must

pay a third of the total cost to get their child included on the organ transplant waiting list. There

are often multiple barriers to resource distribution. As represented in the film, organs must be

compatible with the recipient, and a list system is usually utilized. This might pose some

difficulties for organ transplants, including how to assign organs when there are more potential

recipients than donors. This is challenging since the Archibalds' plight is shared by many other

families and patients. The waiting list for organs might belong, and cooperation is not always

assured. A physician must propose a patient, and other criteria like insurance coverage must be

considered.

Moreover, a person's financial situation typically impacts hospital-related choices.

Studies revealed that uninsured patients are likely to be moved to a different hospital,

independent of the institution's capabilities, examining the link between a patient's health

insurance and access to care (Freeman & Bernat, 2012). As Michael's treatment demonstrates,

this creates an ethical dilemma concerning justice since it creates partiality by allowing quality

care to only those who can afford it. Additional justice concerns, such as whether healthcare

resources should be available to as many people as feasible or if all persons should get resources

fairly, or who should or should not receive a transplant, maybe studied further using this ethical

idea. John Q should be used as an example to advocate for organ transplantation, a category

fully covered by medical insurance, rather than making it an elective surgery as depicted in the

film.

The film John Q illustrates ethical difficulties in the medical setting that need further

study and research. The spectator empathizes with the characters, especially with Michael, the
little boy who has so much life ahead of him. The hospital is shown as the guilty party, whereas

John Q's family is seen to have good intentions due to the outrage evoked by the film's depiction

of the state of the healthcare institution and its decision to turn away those in need. Since this

was a film, the filmmakers were able to give the Archibald family a happy ending, which is not

often the case in real life. Again, ethical issues like fairness and non-maleficence influence how

people engage with the healthcare system; therefore, it is important to consider these ethical

standards and how healthcare may be improved to serve all patients better.
 References

Amin, H., & Siddiqui, W. J. (2021). Cardiomegaly. In StatPearls [internet]. StatPearls

Publishing.

Cassavetes, N. (2002). John Q. New Line Cinema.

Freeman, R. B., & Bernat, J. L. (2012). Ethical issues in organ transplantation. Progress in

Cardiovascular Diseases, 55(3), 282-289.