UNDUE GAME OF BASELINE PRINCIPLES: THE PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP FROM A BIOETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article is inspired by an accident in a hospital where a pregnant woman
died on the operating table because her husband was unwilling to sign the
operation consent form. What’s lurking behind this tragedy is the crisis of faith
between doctors and patients in China. The crisis is a product of the
Marketization of the health care system, which generates an unequal
relationship between doctors and patients. Such a relationship makes patients
unable to actively protect their rights. From a bioethical perspective, health is
a basic right for everyone. In order to improve the physician-patient
relationship, health rights must be considered as a priority in policy making.
Although the Chinese government has been trying to implement universal health
coverage, a progress indeed, problems and difficulties still exist in equalizing
status between patients and doctors and in rebuilding a benign physicianpatient relationship