tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post4412505484469119154..comments2024-03-22T11:55:50.335+13:00Comments on Not PC: DOWN TO THE DOCTOR’S: Where the State does have a rolePeter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-18441293402602846192011-05-25T21:17:24.991+12:002011-05-25T21:17:24.991+12:00@FFF:
There are varied opinions among libertarian...@FFF:<br /><br />There are varied opinions among libertarians on just when the state should intervene to protect a child. <br /><br />For instance, if the state seized a child who was severely anaemic and whose parents were Jehovah's Witnesses and refusing treatment; and transfused it in a state hospital with blood that a health minister, say Simon Upton, had refused to have screened for blood-borne viruses; and that child contracted hepatitis C and then later developed cirrhosis and liver cancer, would the ends justify the means?<br /><br />Should the state be able to seize a sick child just because its parents elect for a certain course of treatment that is unproven, despite other treatments being demonstrably effective? <br /><br />That's a really hard call. In general, parents want the best for their children and when their children are sick will possibly opt for therapies that are less unpleasant for the child while being of unproven efficacy. And let's face it, some treatments for leukemia and the like are pretty damn awful.<br /><br />In the Liam Holloway case, had he been forced to undergo chemotherapy in NZ, Liam might have succumbed after days or weeks to side effects of the treatment. ("I have some good news, Mr and Mrs Holloway; we cured the leukemia, however...").<br /><br />If parents are acting in good faith, I don't think the state should intervene. <br /><br />The Libertarianz Party believes the rights of a child are held in trust by its parents, not by the state.<br /><br />Medical negligence (i.e. by a doctor) should be judged by any professional group to whom the doctor is allied and who he therefore represents, and also according to any contractual agreements to which he would be bound.Richard McGrathnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-31399237310382035712011-05-25T14:33:31.375+12:002011-05-25T14:33:31.375+12:00Doc, where exactly the Libertarianz stands on this...Doc, where exactly the Libertarianz stands on this issue of medical negligence (a minor)? Isn't this the proper role for the state to protect the rights of the minor?<br /><br />I remembered a case from a decade ago, when the parents of a child (Liam Holloway) refused to continue the chemo treatment of their son at the hospital. The hospital authorities got the police involved, but the parents and their sick child took a run. They ended up in a clinic in Mexico or somewhere in South America where the boy finally succumbed to cancer & died there during his treatment.<br /><br />Does the right of the child rest with the state or with the parents? Which one?Falafulu Fisinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-45363209524505478862011-05-25T14:31:02.303+12:002011-05-25T14:31:02.303+12:00How awful for the family to be faced with that dec...How awful for the family to be faced with that decision. And how much worse to then have to fight in a court to have it happen. Reliving the pain all over again. Yeah - I'm a Mum and grateful that my husband and I aren't faced with that.lisanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-26415920522999472612011-05-25T10:39:38.190+12:002011-05-25T10:39:38.190+12:00"That makes the doctor a slave, with a gun to..."That makes the doctor a slave, with a gun to his head or whip to his back, his assets frozen and his liberty threatened by the State, if he doesn’t comply." <br /><br />That sounds like all of us under the tax system.Kiwiwithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10507667837257013301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-49662260527245065632011-05-25T10:03:44.138+12:002011-05-25T10:03:44.138+12:00We're all already slaves of the state with gun...We're all already slaves of the state with guns to our heads, it wouldn't 'make' the doctor one, it would just make him continue to be one, just like the rest of us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com