Abstract: |
Hospitals in the United States have been engaging in the practice of returning immigrant patients, usually undocumented immigrant patients, to their country of origin when the patient has long-term medical needs for which no reimbursement is available. I argue that for such an action to be ethical, it must be done in accordance with the mission and values of hospitals. I describe three standards that an individual instance of repatriation must meet to be ethical: (1) patient best interests, (2) medical due diligence, and (3) informed consent. I argue that these should form the basis for best practices in regard to medical repatriation for all hospitals in the United States. |
Notes: |
ID: 12633; Status: MEDLINE; Comments: Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):14-6; PMID: 22881847, Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):8-9; PMID: 22881844, Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):W1-3; PMID: 22881863, Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):9-11; PMID: 22881845, Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):11-3; PMID: 22881846, Comment in: Am J Bioeth. 2012;12(9):6-7; PMID: 22881843; Publishing Model: Journal available in: Print Citation processed from: Internet; NLM Journal Code: 100898738 |