Fig Taylor
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

The Charlie Guard case is entirely different. The resources were there; the parents raised funds and everyone from Pope Francis to Donald Trump stuck their oar in, but the hospital treating him in the UK prevented the family from trying other options in the belief they knew better. Sure I have an opinion on the matter but neither the case nor my opinion are relevant here.

You want an example? Try this. One of my American friends, who is a highly qualified professional now in her 50s, was out of work for a long time due to no fault of her own. She took contract work when she could find it but slowly fell into debt to the point of choosing between heating or eating on several occasions. This went on for years. She had no savings left and zero benefits due to the sporadic and contractual nature of her (government) employment. So the depression and hypothyroidism she’s had since childhood went untreated for months at a stretch because she couldn’t afford to buy necessary medication. By comparison, my thyroid ceased to function when I hit the menopause. Not only does the NHS provide me with regular monitoring, my own hypothyroidism exempts me from having to pay prescription charges for my thyroxine or any other medication I take or may need in the future.

Or…how about another American friend of mine who I lost last year also due to secondary breast cancer. My UK-based bestie got all her cancer treatment and medication free. She had incredibly good NHS care for the most part. My American friend, however had to work, albeit from home, through brutal bouts of chemo for years because if she’d stopped for longer than the odd week or two here and there she’d have lost her health insurance and she didn’t have any other means to pay for her treatment. In other words she had to work herself to death in the name of staying alive. I think that’s immoral. And it would still be immoral regardless of the influence – or absence – of “risky behaviours”. You, on the other hand, seem to think that people who aren’t exercising your definition of “personal responsibility” in regard to their health are immoral. On that we will certainly have to agree to differ.

    Fig Taylor

    Written by

    Writer, lecturer and educator in the creative industries.

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