Your Right to Make Decisions about Medical Treatment (Published Sun, 18 May 2008 02:11:00 GMT)
I’m sitting in a hospital in Southern California. I found myself here after a good friend of mine passed out for no apparent reason and hit the pavement head-first. Fast-forward a few firemen, and ambulance and a few hours later and here we are in Los Alamitos Medical center. We’re both Canadian. He may, or may not be covered for travel insurance stateside, this plays heavily in the mind.
He was given a three page document to read. It describes his rights to make medical decisions. Here’s a little excerpt:
“Your doctors will give you information and advice about treatment. You have the right to choose. You can say ‘Yes’ to treatments you want. You can say ‘No’ to any treatments you don’t want-even if the treatment might keep you alive longer.”
I agree with the right to choose the best path for personal care. I definitely agree with the right to choose to pull your own plug to maintain your dignity and quality of life that’s left. But the reality of this situation is that the major concern with making any decision is cost. How on earth can one of the most wealthy countries on earth allow their citizens to live like this?
“We’re going to run a few tests to see what’s going on”
“Is that going to be expensive?”
“Yes”
Of all the times I’ve been admitted to the hospital, the cost has never been an issue. The number one concern of everyone involved is always getting better. It seems secondary right now, and that is wrong.
View My LinkedIn profile