The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity republished an article titled “Another Breech in Hippocratic Ethics: Shouldn’t Medicine Be More Than a Business?” In this article, the author show how the transformation of medicine from a covenantal model to one of corporate business serious threatens human dignity.
Here are several examples:
“Did you know that feeding tube placement in elderly demented persons does not prolong life, decrease infections or aspiration, and probably offers no advantages over hand feeding? Then why are more feeding tubes placed in this population at for-profit rather than not for-profit hospitals?”
“For-profit hospitals are 3 to 11% more costly than not for-profits.”
“During the 2001 recession, pharmaceutical companies increased profits (33%) while Fortune 500 companies experienced a decline (53%).”
“Eighty-five percent of dialysis centers in the U.S. are for-profit. Their death rates are 30% higher with 26% less referrals for transplant. Why are less people referred for transplant? If they undergo a successful transplant, they no longer require dialysis and that dialysis center loses reimbursement for their treatment. Again there are many more examples attesting to a pervasive corporate transformation (nursing homes fit the paradigm as well).”
Along with the multi-billion dollar abortion business, it seems human life and death has become merely a profitable commodity.