In: Nursing
Should a physician be held accountable for refusing to treat patients in an emergency? why?
According to me, a physician should not be held fully accountable for refusing to treat patients in an emergency. However, before getting into the profession of healthcare, they take an oath and get themselves into a commitment of ethical obligation to give their full effort and care to a person in case of medical emergency. But in actual scenario, physicians are not ethically tied-up to this commitment. They are also human being and they also have their right to choose whether he wants to do it or not. As long as, he has not developed a special relationship with the patient, he is not obliged to serve that individual at all cost.
Even after putting the above thoughts, I strongly feel that a physician should never forget about his/her oath and always try to treat patients in an emergency. But again, at the same time, if they are not able to provide that treatment due to some of their personal reasons, they must not be held accountable.