Should Patients Be Allowed to Choose – Or Refuse – Doctors by Race or Gender?(nytimes.com)

Should Patients Be Allowed to Choose – Or Refuse – Doctors by Race or Gender?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/magazine/should-patients-be-allowed-to-choose-or-refuse-doctors-by-race-or-gender.html

2 comments

bradknowles7 anni fa

If you are the patient, and you refuse to be served by a doctor of a particular race or gender, then I think you’re primarily hurting yourself.

But if you choose to do that, then I think you should lose all rights to any kind of complaint regarding the service you do receive.

Am I missing something?

siphon227 anni fa

I think most patients are ultimately making the best choices for them in good faith and we should assume so unless provided evidence otherwise. I have a Vietnamese friend with an older, non-English speaking parent who can only be helped by a Vietnamese doctor. Sure you can have interpreters, but that's not always the most convenient. There is also another element to this that has to do with race/genetics, which I will argue for only as a devil's advocate. People from different cultures/races are well, different. An Indian doctor will have the most intuitive sense for diagnosing an Indian patient. And even if that isn't factually true, if the patient believes it, is it wrong for them to pursue the option they think is best for them? If we outlaw or punish people for making the choice they believe is best for them in good faith, would we not then be liable for any negative outcome that should result from that?