Introduction
John Q’s film concerns health care services offered in American facilities. The movie exposes the disastrous effects of allowing insurance companies to run medical facilities in the USA. The film is based on
‘s 9-year-old son, who collapses while playing baseball (Cassavetes, 2002). Michael is rushed to the hospital, where a physical examination revealed that he had heart failure and needed a transplant. His parents are informed that he experienced a heart problem and required a costly transplant to save his life. The Archibald’s are also informed that their insurance coverage could not meet the expenses. Therefore, the parents had to pay for the transplant expenses independently. John takes the hospital workers and doctors hostage till the facility agrees to perform the heart transplant.
Ethical Dilemma
The film contains an ethical dilemma. The facility is expected to offer services to its clients but is not performing according to health needs of Michael. The dilemma is based on three medical terms; justice, beneficence, and non-Maleficence. Beneficence implies acting in the best interest of the patient, while justice is applying appropriate procedures to determine healthcare limits. On the other hand, non-Maleficence is to designate harm and formulate mechanisms for averting it. The refusal of the hospital to treat Michael implies that it was ready to discharge him despite his unstable condition. Money is a crucial issue as his parents were unable to foot the high medical bill. Also, the facility can be said to be unjust. It is worth noting that John attempted to pay the bill in instalments (Cassavetes, 2002). Therefore, the hospital should have been considerate and treated Michael and waited for the balance to be cleared later. In this regard, the facility was unjust in discharging Michael. Finally, the hospital staff were entitled to designate harm and find alternatives to avoid it. Indeed, the staff knew Michael Archibald, a nine-year-old boy, would die if discharged. That was a real way of harming the boy. The doctors made no effort to avoid harm. That was a confirmed case of non-Maleficence.
Ethical Theory
The theory applied to analyze the John Q film is Unitarianism. The theory determines the right options and wrong issues by considering the entire outcome. Unitarianism can facilitate healthcare practitioners to identify the outcomes of ethical culture, such as understanding what is morally right and perceiving the application of one’s values. Ethical culture avails resources that facilitate leaders to solve pertinent ethical dilemmas. Unitarianism should be applied to boost the effects of individual patients’ well-being. A good work environment may boost patients` well-being.
Ethics is a crucial healthcare concept. Medical settings should have well-developed ethics programs. The program should cover all healthcare departments and functions. From the Unitarianism theory, it is apt to state that the facility highlighted in the film is unethical in its intentions to discharge the boy or even refuse to perform the transplant based on the outcome; Michael would die. It is clear that Michael’s father appealed worth the doctor to perform the surgery. In the conversation, John observes that he had information that the facility performs numerous heart transplants every year, thereby gaining seven hundred million dollars. John wonders whether the facility cannot perform single free surgery to avert his son’s life. From the above-mentioned statement, a utilitarian would conclude that free surgery is the right action as it presents the most appropriate outcome, saving Michael’s life (Dimmock & Fisher, 2017). Indeed, the utilitarian, just like Michael’s father, would argue that if the hospital made many gains from the heart surgeries, one free surgery could not yield losses, and therefore, it is wrong to let the boy die due to lack of funds.
Ethical Analysis
The film, John Q, lacks fairness and courage as moral values. The hospital staff refused to offer the best health services to Michael. They refused to perform the transplant due to a lack of finances. The action was unfair and can be said to be immoral. Courage is illustrated through the action of John. He would stop at nothing to meet his son’s treatment. In the process, it takes the hospital workers and doctors hostage till the facility agrees to perform the heart transplant. The process brings another moral dilemma. Treating Michal for free would make other patients demand free treatment services. Under such cases, if the facility performs many free treatments, it would make losses amounting to millions of dollars and finally close down. Although the needy patients would greatly benefit, the hospital would not benefit from free medical services, which meant this was not benefitting more people. From the foregoing utilitarians would conclude that it is morally wrong for the hospital staff to Moral of the story utilitarian are consequentialist and would argue that it is unethical not to offer the best health services to Michael; perform the surgery due to its outcome; his death.
Reflection
The film John Q is highly informative and entreating. The movie revolves around Michael, who has been denied medical treatment due to cost. The parents are unable to foot the bill. Finally, his father, John, takes hostage by the emergency department, and the doctors agree to treat him. The movie illustrates the disastrous health conditions in US healthcare services. The services are costly and require drastic measures to alleviate the suffering of marginalized people like Michael. Here is the need for policies that set aside insurance covers for severe cases such as the one facing Michael. It is prudent for hospitals to be humane and just.
The ethical dilemma in the film teaches us several lessons. The issues can be summed applying three terms; justice, beneficence, and non-Maleficence. Actually, the hospital should act in the best interest of the patient while applying appropriate procedures to determine healthcare limits. Health practitioners should designate harm and formulate mechanisms for averting it. Hospitals should not discharge untreated patients considering their unstable conditions. Also, facilities should treat their patients fairy. Therefore, hospitals be considerate and treat the needy. The hospital staff are entitled to designate harm and find alternatives to avoiding it.
The moral values deduced from the film could be applied in my professional and personal life.
The film is grounded on principles of wrong and right that prescribe how humans should act concerning rights, benefits, and obligations to societal virtues. The film showcases fundamental aspects of practical decision-making and encompasses the ultimate value through which human behavior can be examined, either right or wrong. Humans apply ethical concepts in the real world in different ways. Indeed, the movie guides our actions in making the appropriate choices that foster the common good for all. Indeed, the movie guides humans in telling the truth, assisting the needy and keeping our promises. Overall, the film aids us in making decisions that create positive concepts and steer health practitioners from unjust issues.
References
Cassavetes, N. (February 15 2002). John Q (Film). New Line cinema
Dimmock, M., & Fisher, A. (2017). Ethics for A-level. Retrieved from
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/ethics-for-a-level
ISBN-13: 9781783743902
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