What are the ethical considerations for a spouse whose significant other refuses medical care?

As more and more people in the baby boom generation are aging, and the cost of medical care rises, they are faced with hard choices about when to seek medical care. Can we trust our gut instincts on this one?


Or are there instances where intervention is warranted?What are the ethical considerations for a spouse whose significant other refuses medical care?
This is a difficult question. Seeking medical care for someone who does not want it is illegal unless you are their guardian. Which means they are either underage and you have guardianship or they are mentally incompetent.





First step is to find out exactly why they are refusing. And understand their reasons. Yours make no difference legally.





As someone who is older my main concern has always been becoming a person like the boxer in Million Dollar Baby. Since I do not want to live on under those circumstances, it seemed a good idea to sign no heroic intervention releases and make a Physician friend rather than my own husband or children responsible for making a decision to allow me to die peacefully.





For someone else it may be fear of pain or expense or numerous other issues. So ask questions and listen to the answers, hard as that can be when you are concerned. And then try to persuade your partner to at least see someone to identify causes and options. This does save money should the problem be easy to remedy and get worse if not treated.





Good luck and may this turn out okay. What are the ethical considerations for a spouse whose significant other refuses medical care?
I am glad you asked this. I am married to a man who is 55 and I am 39. I feel he should see a doctor yearly. He, being a ';manly'; man, thinks doctors are for wimps. He is having so much back pain lately that I'm tempted to hog-tie him and drag him to the hospital myself, but would/should that be legal? I feel as his life partner, I have a responsibility to make decisions based on common sense when he doesn't. I can't wait to see what kind of answers you get.
Many have no Choice as many can`t pay to be treated.It`s not like they don`t want the help but there money goes only so far.Not everybody like the fat cats on wall street get bailed out when there broke.They just have to do without .Now that the idiots in the senate just gave away 850 billion they now might have to do without food and maybe lights 3 or 4 days a week.As with our debt we have now they will cut programs that help people who really need them.But they don`t care as they can vote themselves a raise anytime they want.
A person has the final say on his health. Not even the spouse can intervene unless he gets a court order to contravene. Not even the doctor can save the patient's life if that person has accomplished a DNR (do not resuscitate).