Rizarde, Jonalyn May B.

Ethics
1st year BSA – Set B 04/25/2023

REFLECTION PAPER ON THE MOVIE “JOHN Q”

I had to watch the John Q movie for our ethics class, and I noticed that it dealt with a significant
ethical problem. For those who haven’t seen the movie. The Archibald’s are a working-class
family whose lives are about to change due to an unanticipated health crisis. The Archibald’s
kid, who is around 9 years old, passed out one day while playing baseball. After being
transported to the hospital, his family was informed that he required a heart transplant but that
his insurance would not cover the cost. The son would need a heart transplant, but the family
would first need to pay cash to get him on the list. The hospital decided to release the son
because he didn’t have long to live and because they hadn’t received the deposit. When a family
is asked to pay cash to save a child’s life, ethics are called into question. This family, which
belonged to the working class, lacked the money needed to cover the heart transplant deposit.
Even after practically all of their possessions were sold, they were unable to get the necessary
funds. The hospital attempted to discharge the child despite the fact that it was clear he was in
poor health and would not survive without a transplant for very long.

The hospital ought to have offered the family more options besides being told to pay cash. I
believe that the hospital has a duty to assist everyone, especially those who require life-saving
care. Beneficence, which refers to the act of doing good, is one of the ethical principles. This
ethical guideline was not followed by the hospital in this situation. In this predicament, the idea
of human dignity was also questioned. Sending someone home to die is not respecting their right
to life, which is very important. The hospital took away the child’s right to live by refusing to
place him on the list to receive a heart and trying to release him to go home. If the child only had
a short time to live with the help of the hospital, imagine what would have happened if he would
have gone home without any medical treatment or support.
I really hate the fact that the hospital did not consider this because receiving money seemed to be
most important. The father said that the child receives a check up every year and no doctor ever
said that he was healthy and had no conditions. The dilemma here is clear, if the doctors would
have run tests prior to the incident, they could have seen that the child did not have a healthy
heart and could have possibly treated him. There have been numerous rumors that HMOs
withhold treatments in exchange for rewards at the end of the year. Because a doctor’s
responsibility is to keep a patient healthy, this is unethical. The quality of care and the patient’s
health will suffer if the doctor does not administer all of the recommended therapies.

This film bravely tells a moving story of parental love and sacrifice that is suppressed by a
deafening call of ethical dilemmas. Each main character must make difficult choices and provide
a set of moral principles to support their choices. These decisions are rarely simple, and each one
requires providing up something important. It gave me a lot of emotions because this movie isn’t
far from the reality. I feel sad for the Archibald’s family that they had to face that kind of
problem. John Q. Archibald, the father and protagonist, has to deal with some of the most
difficult ethical dilemmas, comparing his outstanding responsibility as a parent against the
“greater good” for society. This movie came out in 2002 and continues to cause us to question
what is right and what is wrong. John Q’s example makes us wonder what we would do in the
situation and what is truly important to us. I learned how challenging it is to evaluate the
morality of another person’s behavior.