Should doctors be allowed to deny medical treatment on medical grounds?

Question

Should doctors be allowed to deny medical treatment on medical grounds?

Answer 1

sure, i supposed that would fall in line with that oath about "do no harm". (but you can always seek a second opinino)

doctors should NOT deny medical treatment based on personal belief e.g., denying birth control

Answer 2

Too vague, too confusing. It depends on the details, the doctor's experience, opinion, ethics, not to mention the medical details of the situation. This is not a black and white thing, this is a wide grey murky area where the doctor's opinion is going to matter, and it's going to depend on each individual case.

In general, yes. But that's a 50.001% 'general'

Answer 3

Marie is right on the mark.

We're not slaves yet.

Answer 4

As the nurse above pointed out, a doctor doesn't have to provide a treatment that s/he reasonably believes will cause more harm than good.  That doesn't stop a patient from seeking another practitioner who may be willing to provide the treatment.  Medical grounds are exactly the kind of thing that a doctor should be citing if s/he doesn't feel that the treatment has a chance of being successful.

Sometimes that decision should be entirely the patient's--chemotherapy for cancer might have a very low chance of success, but the patient should generally be the one to decide whether or not to proceed.  But chemotherapy that is likely to wipe out bone marrow in a patient who has stated that they will refuse blood transfusions might be refused by a doctor on the medical grounds that if they can't treat the patient appropriately for the side effects of the drug, that they would just be killing the patient faster.

Despite the current characterization of doctors as 'health-care providers', they are not the same as people who sell books or cars or life insurance.  A doctor does not have to provide treatment that they think will be harmful--in fact, they are ethically bound not to.

Answer 5

Insufficient information... I would have to say NO.

Doctors have to take a Hippoctatic oath and stand behind it.

Answer 6

Yes they should and do deny medical treatment on medical grounds.  For example, someone who wants elective surgery but has a weak heart.  The treatment would do more harm than good.