JPost: Health Minister German outlaws fluoridation of all tap water

Here is another in our series of posts regarding mandatory medical treatment.

An article by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich reports that the Israeli Health Minister, Yael German, has directed that Israel's water cupply should no longer be fluoridated.

But she added that instead of forcing all Israelis to consume fluoridated water to benefit children’s teeth, the delivery system should be changed so each parent can decide and take action individually if they wanted their child to get dental protection...

Prof. Arnon Afek, German’s director-general whom she recently handpicked and who is an expert in pathology and medical administration (but not dentistry or public health), told The Jerusalem Post Sunday that he personally supported the health minister’s decision to prohibit fluoridation. “Mandatory fluoridation is medical treatment. Individuals have the right to decide if they want it or not. The question is not if fluoride is beneficial but how it should be delivered. We cannot force people. It is legitimate that experts in the field oppose the health minister’s decision, but we have a policy,” said the director-general. “The ministry supported it for over 40 years, but this is a new era. The world has changed, and we can educate parents.”

Israel Hayom | Court orders teen to undergo chemo against rabbi's advice

In the past, I have written about the courts mandating medical treatment, see here and here.

Israel Hayom is reporting a case where the court is ordering a boy to go undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment for his leukemia. According to the article, the boy was treated in the past and his cancer was in remission. His doctors are saying it has returned by the boy and his family are refusing treatment, according to the article, on the advice of their rabbi. 

"If they could prove that this treatment is necessary, we would agree to it," said the boy's father.

It is not clear from the article whether the rabbi has seen the medical report.

See here for an article entitled How A Rabbi Decides A Medical Halacha Issue by Rabbi Yitzchok A. Breitowitz.

Israeli Physicians to be Told They Must Treat HIV Carriers- Haaretz

According to a report by Haaretz, the Israeli Medical Association-(IMA)'s ethics committee has decided that it is unethical for a doctor to refuse to treat a patient with HIV. (For the IMA's statement in Hebrew click here.) I'm not sure why doctors would refuse HIV patients any more than patients with other highly infectious and fatal diseases. The article suggests that it may be due to certain prejudices and a stigma that attaches to HIV patients. Now, this statement by the IMA is not a legal decision so if a doctor would refuse to treat a patient it seems that they would not be violating any law but they might be subject to discipline by the IMA.

This new stance is not so clear to me because the IMA's position, found on its website, is that "A physician must offer medical assistance in urgent cases or in life-saving situations. In any other instance a physician may decide not to provide medical treatment to a patient for personal or professional reasons." So I'm not sure whether this new statement is referring to urgent cases or non-urgent cases. If it is referring to non-urgent cases then it seems to signal a reversal of policy. (In Australia, doctors have a duty to provide care, at least in urgent cases, even where there is no previously existing doctor-patient relationship.)

Do We Need a Law Clarifying the Duties of a Paramedic?

The JPost reported on a story where the family of a man is blaming Magen David Adom, the Israeli paramedics, for not transporting the individual to the hospital after he apparently suffered a stroke. The paramedics say that the patient refused to be transported to the hospital.

From the article: 

[MK Rachel] Adatto [a physician] said that MDA paramedics are often in a dilemma. About 20 percent of all patients who need to be evacuated to hospital refuse to be taken. Thus, if the patient needs urgent medical care and refuses to be hospitalized, the paramedic is on the one hand exposed to lawsuits regarding inadequate treatment if he does not evacuate the patient, and on the other hand may be exposed to lawsuits if he acts against the patient’s will.

The Patients’ Rights Law (1996) gives the individual autonomy over his body and health. If the patient is unconscious and unaware of his condition, he can be hospitalized without permission being granted.

I think a law like this is probably a good idea. I'm surprised they don't have one already.

Here is an article from Australia about this topic and one from the US.

Panel okays bill to force anorexia hospi... JPost - National News

Panel okays bill to force anorexia hospitalization... JPost - National News


Kadima MK Adatto says doctors asked her to prepare bill to help eating disorder sufferers who refuse treatment.