Hi there! This my next current affairs blog post regarding the Susan Lim Saga that happened a while ago. My class was told to have a debate over this and thus, I am posting my reflections here. A main idea of what happened in this case was that Dr Lim was hired to cure a Bruneian patient (Royalty) of her breast disease. Dr Lim initially requested for $25 million and the family accepted, wanting to save the future queen as soon as possible. However, in November 2007, the royal family wrote to the Ministry of Health, asking them to tell Dr Lim to reduce her fees as $25 million was a big sum. Considering the fact that Dr Lim had already received $14 million from the past few years as service charges from the government of Brunei and also that the Bruneian patient died, the Singapore Medical Council is launching an inquiry against Dr Lim for overcharging her patient. The question burns down to this: Should a doctor's fees take priority over benevolence?
This question mainly means that doctors should provide cheap services to people who cannot afford it like for example, an old man with no one to depend on.
Reflections:
I feel that a doctor's fees should take priority over benevolence. Doctors should be paid fairly and not short-changed/taken advantaged of whether your family is rich or poor. In this case, Dr Lim's patient is from royalty and is thus, well-to-do.
Firstly, doctors should be given fees fairly as they are like any ordinary human, having a family to feed. They also have to take care of themselves and survive, furthermore with the high living costs nowadays. By taking advantage of/short-changing them, possibly by telling them that you have no money, they make losses. They are indirectly providing a cheap or free service this way and also, they have to spend money on medicine like antiseptic. They do not earn enough money to feed their families. If you short-change them, you might feel happy that you gained. However, ask your conscience. Is this really the right thing to do? What would happen to the doctor that provided a cheap service? Thus, I feel that doctors should be paid fairly.
Next, solving the problem of people with no money. In some cases, doctors are called upon to be Samaritans. Usually, they would see old people (Common) that are critically ill. However, there is this problem that these old people have no one to depend on and have no money on them. Are the doctors really that cold-hearted to leave the old person to die? Obviously not. Yet, they are faced with the problem that they do not receive fees. There are mainly two solutions to this. One, you can provide a free service since the man is already dying and you do not want to be known as a cold-hearted person. Or you can help that old person to apply for financial services like Medisave. After all, they have been saving it for life, why not use it now? Hence, the problem of 'being forced to be benevolent' is solved.
Lastly, it is regarding the Singapore Medical Council's inquiry against Dr Lim's company regarding the overcharging. I feel that there is no problem regarding this incident. Dr Lim has already asked/warned the patient about the prices and the patient has already agreed to it. The patient has also chose Dr Lim for a reason. This reason would be that Dr Lim had a good reputation. Hence, it is not uncommon for a good doctor to charge patients at a high price for services. Also, at that time, the patient would have already seen a few doctors and compared prices so Dr Lim's price should have been reasonable. Therefore, there is not really much of a problem with this incident.
In conclusion, I feel that a doctor's fees take priority over benevolence. Doctors are human beings too and require money to survive. Free services should not be provided as 'There is no such thing as a free lunch'. Solutions towards the problems of not having money etc can be easily solved. Hence, doctors have all rights to charge their patients.
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