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The Right to Health Care: Ethical Considerations

Part of the book series: The International Library of Bioethics ((ILB,volume 92))

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Abstract

This chapter examines various options of how a society could fund its health care system, and argues that an ethical society would opt for a socialized system where the only determinant for access to the relevant health services is whether, and to what degree, they interfere with an individual’s ability to participate for health-based reasons on an equitable basis in the opportunities that the society offers to its members. Various societal implications in this regard such accessibility and the use of modern technology are also discussed, as is the obligation to engage in appropriate research and training.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Henceforth, this cause will be taken as understood.

  2. 2.

    In what follows, the term “commercial” will be taken as understood.

  3. 3.

    For instance, the United States of America Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, accessed 31/08/2020 at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-111publ148/PLAW-111publ148, would amount to this.

  4. 4.

    Apparently this is one of the reasons why a significant number of individuals do not avail themselves of insurance in accordance with the US Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. See Tolbert J, Orgera K, Singer N, and Damico A. “Key Facts about the Uninsured Population”, accessed 2020–09-01 at https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/.

  5. 5.

    Embrett and Randall (2018), Fuchs (2009).

  6. 6.

    Chapter 2, pp. 22 ff.

  7. 7.

    Tuohy, Flood and Stabile, “How Does Private Finance Affect Public Health Care Systems? Marshalling the Evidence from OECD Nations”; referenced in the CHRF study and accessed 04/09/2020 at http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~mstabile/oecd.pdf.

  8. 8.

    Aakvika et al. (2015), Sari et al. (2007), Manji et al. (2013), Newton et al. (2017).

  9. 9.

    Lasser et al. (2006).

  10. 10.

    Yip et al. (2019), Nikolova et al. (2015), Reichert and Jacobs (2018).

  11. 11.

    Popovich (2011), World Health Organization, “Rocky road from the Semashko to a new health model,” accessed 09/10/2020 at https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/91/5/13-030513/en/.

  12. 12.

    van Doorslaer et al. (2006), Duckett (2005).

  13. 13.

    Baicker et al. (2013), Sommers et al. (2012).

  14. 14.

    Lasser et al. (2006).

  15. 15.

    Cf. Woolhandler et al. (2004).

  16. 16.

    Ewing (2017).

  17. 17.

    Erkoreka (2010).

  18. 18.

    Ahn et al. (2020).

  19. 19.

    World Health Organization, Clinical Trials; accessed 08/10/2020 at https://www.who.int/health-topics/clinical-trials/#tab=tab_1.

  20. 20.

    van den Heuvel et al. (2018).

  21. 21.

    Bartz (2016), Ekeland et al. (2010).

  22. 22.

    Choi et al. (2018), Weinstein et al. (2018), Whitten and Mair (2004).

  23. 23.

    Kluge (2020), Chap. 1.

  24. 24.

    Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Definition; available at https://www.cms.gov/medicare/e-health/ehealthrecords/index.html.

  25. 25.

    Kluge (2000).

  26. 26.

    United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 12; accessed 04/10/2017 at http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/; World Medical Association, Code of Medical Ethics, accessed 17/09/2020 at https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-international-code-of-medical-ethics/.

  27. 27.

    Deepika et al. (2010), Greenbaum et al. (2011), Huang et al. (2011).

  28. 28.

    For a modification of this relative to health care institutions, see Chap. 7, infra.

  29. 29.

    Ethically, patients have a right to access all their data. See Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) accessed at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32016R0679. For a fuller discussion, see International Medical Informatics Association, Code of Ethics, accessed 18/09/2020 at https://imia-medinfo.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMIA-Code-of-Ethics-2016.pdf., and Kluge (2020).

  30. 30.

    Cf. IMIA, Code of Ethics, loc. cit.

  31. 31.

    Doan (2011), Faunce et al. (2010), Legotlo and Mutezo (2018).

  32. 32.

    Chapter 2, p. 22.

  33. 33.

    World Health Organization, WHO Guidance for Surveillance during an Influenza Pandemic (update 20,127) 2.2 et pass. a22/09/2020ccessed at https://www.who.int/influenza/preparedness/pandemic/WHO_Guidance_for_surveillance_during_an_influenza_pandemic_082017.pdf.

  34. 34.

    Chapter 3, pp. 30 ff.

  35. 35.

    Fromer (2006).

  36. 36.

    World Health Organization, Clinical Trials; accessed 28/09/2020 at https://www.who.int/health-topics/clinical-trials/#tab=tab_1. Strictly speaking, Phase IV trials are more properly referred to as post-marketing surveillance studies because they ae not controlled trials but rather surveillance of the effects of the intervention on uncontrolled populations.

  37. 37.

    For a different opinion, see Miller and Brody (2003).

  38. 38.

    Encyclopedia of Management, Pennsylvania State University, Gale, 2009, p. 31; Weisman (2002).

  39. 39.

    World Trade Organization, Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPPS), accessed 28/11/2020 at https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips.pdf.

  40. 40.

    For more on this, see the discussion in the Appendix.

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  1. Department of Philosophy, FRSC, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Eike-Henner W. Kluge

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Kluge, EH.W. (2022). Providing the Services. In: The Right to Health Care: Ethical Considerations. The International Library of Bioethics, vol 92. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93838-3_5

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