Britain’s National Health Service is denying access to various services provided by the state health care system because of patient lifestyles. Smokers and those who are considered overweight are denied some operations or procedures in about a quarter of the country’s health care regions. Physicians and others are critical of the decisions because they say they are being made for fiscal, not clinical reasons. Health care administrators claim that they are medically justified. [Daily Mail]
Three points are of interest. First: an argument is made that the denial of services is unjustified because the patients are taxpayers and are entitled to all services provided by the state health care system. Second: the denial is said to be discriminatory. Third: the services denied include those that are plainly therapeutic (heart, brain and cancer surgery and hip and knee replacement) and not associated with affirmative facilitation of the lifestyles in question. The first two arguments are frequently levelled against those who object to providing services for reasons of conscience.