We Have The Right To Choose The Treatment
What rights does the patient have when choosing which treatment he wants to follow? Actively participating in the process can promote a better recovery.
If there is something that rebels me, it is someone deciding for me what is convenient for my health. Only I have the right to choose, although I know I can be wrong.
Today it seems that health is managed by the World Health Organization and, from there, by governments. As patients we only have the right to ask that the best be given to us and, if possible, free of charge.
But this demand is based on a fallacy, because no system is free : resources have a price, they are limited and someone pays for them.
Thinking that we have the right to everything and also free leads to wasting resources: expensive drugs that not only do not solve the problem but also produce others and disproportionate interventions from which the expenses and suffering caused to the patient are hidden.
Health management must start from the knowledge of resources and their possibilities, as well as from a responsible choice and freedom.
Each one is responsible for his health and life: no one should decide the treatment for him.
Laws such as informed consent support that freedom of choice, but they contrast with others such as those for action in the face of pandemics in which the population can be forced to adopt measures that may harm their health, such as vaccines or isolations.
It is important to avoid publicity manipulations for the protection of global and state health that hide danger to individual health.
The importance of being well informed
I encourage you to take charge of your own health, inform yourself and take the risks of each decision.
It would be convenient to go to the medical consultation with something to take notes, or accompanied by a family member or friend, because four ears hear more than two; and to know that you can change doctors or talk to the nurse if you are not comfortable with them.
It is important to ask about all available treatment options or to turn to the Internet and other sources of information when in doubt.
It is also advisable to keep a copy of the medical history or medical reports, and, ultimately, do everything possible to improve health.
But you have to be prudent with excess information at the same time . As Archie Cochrane said , “select all the information and therapies but do not forget the great healing capacity of the body; always use it and do not let anyone destroy or disable it”.
Recommendations for a responsible self-management of health
Managing health involves paying attention to four aspects:
- Physical: enough sleep almost daily, aerobic exercise for at least 40 minutes almost every day, and a low-fat, high-fiber diet.
- Emotional: “God, give me patience to accept what I cannot change, courage to change what I can change and wisdom to understand the difference,” Francis of Assisi apparently said.
- Mental: we enjoy science, curiosity and learning.
- Spiritual – Spirituality is a sense of communion with something greater than oneself. As Elizabeth Kübler-Ross said: “The only thing I know that truly restores health is unconditional love.”
