This tragic story was recently brought to my attention (if you can’t read the link, it has to do with two terminally ill children and their families attempting to change the medical rules governing organ transplants, in order to increase the chance of getting transplanted lungs).
While illness in children is always a tragedy, and the strongest possible measures should always be taken to ensure their recovery, I have mixed feelings about the actual ruling itself. I have complete sympathy with the parents of the sick children, who are only trying to reverse what they see to be an arbitrary rule for the sake of their children, and I don’t fault them for it. But I am concerned about the extent to which this may set a precedent allowing courts to alter medical guidelines without input from medical professionals.
Medicine is, of course, incredibly complicated, and the wealth of information and ethical problems are what physicians are trained to deal with. We don’t need to look far for proof that people outside the medical field often deeply misunderstand or fail to understand medical problems; for instance, I’ve written before about the hundred-patient limit imposed on physicians who prescribe Buprenorphine. There is not a single good medical reason for this rule; it seems to be motivated by fears that are largely legal or political, rather than in the interest of patients. If you need more convincing, the political issues surrounding healthcare, abortion, and even marijuana are all driven by distortions and misunderstandings of the medical science behind those things.
So it worries me when government seems to be interfering in the day-to-day functioning of medical practitioners without seeming to have an understanding of why the rules they are altering have been put in place. I myself am not an expert on pediatric lung transplants, but I am generally willing to trust those who are experts in it. And while I hope these children, and all children, are able to recover fully and quickly, I do hope we can accomplish that goal without compromising the judgement and agency of those who have devoted their lives to that work.