So, asking for a friend here? Can a doctor turn away patients who refused to get the COVID vaccine? Isn’t that a loaded legal question? It’s an ethical one for sure, right? Aren’t medical professionals supposed to treat anyone regardless of whatever biases that could come about? I’ll leave that debate for the rest of you. What is not up for debate is that we have an Alabama doctor who is refusing to treat those who haven’t received the COVID vaccine. The doctor at the center of this story is justifying this move, noting that the vaccines have been available for months and that dying from COVID is a horrible thing to witness (via WaPo):
Jason Valentine, a physician at Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health in Mobile, Ala., posted a photo on Facebook this week of him pointing to a sign taped to a door informing patients of his new policy coming Oct. 1.
“Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against covid-19,” the sign reads.
Valentine wrote in the post, which has since been made private but was captured in online images, that there were “no conspiracy theories, no excuses” stopping anyone from being vaccinated, AL.com reported. The doctor, who said at least three unvaccinated patients have asked him where they could get a vaccine since he posted the photo, has remained resolute to those who have questioned his decision in recent days.
“If they asked why, I told them covid is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that,” wrote Valentine, who has specialized in family medicine with Diagnostic and Medical Clinic since 2008.
[…]
Valentine did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. An employee with the Mobile clinic where Valentine works told The Washington Post they had no comment. Ashley Rains, a spokesperson with Infirmary Health, which oversees Diagnostic and Medical Clinic, said she did not anticipate Valentine or the hospital system to have a statement on the matter.
Look, whatever the case, this is going to generate some controversy. There are no mandates yet, but they’re coming. You know Biden’s people are just itching to enact one but can’t for a couple of reasons. The least now is that there’s a 2022 midterm election on the horizon. The second reason is that Afghanistan is a total and complete mess.
Post your comments below. I know all of you have some thoughts on this move.