Do you have the right to refuse medical treatment?
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008The story, if you’ve missed it, began in 2003 when a construction worker was admitted to the ER at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital with a gash on his head.
He got stitches.
Then he was told he needed a rectal exam to determine if he had a spinal injury.
He didn’t want a rectal exam. A scuffle ensued. The “patient” ended up sedated & restrained.
Leave aside who’s lying and who isn’t (the hospital claimed he never got the exam; Brian Persaud says he did; the hospital says Persaud got violent, he says he slapped a doc by accident).
It seems to me it never should have gotten that far.
It seems to me that even if I, the patient, will die if I refuse a particular procedure, I should still be allowed to refuse it.
It’s my body.
Isn’t it?