ABSTRACT. The idea that health care and other welfare measures are fundamental rights everyone has goes back a couple of centuries. In our time some defend it based on the preamble of the U. S. Constitution where the purpose of the American polity is identified as the general welfare. However, this is a misreading: it is by way of the protection of our basic rights that the general welfare is promoted since with such protection, all citizens are free to pursue their happiness. Medical care is a value that doctors, nurses and other medical professionals would, if they were free men and women, provide to those they would choose as recipients, on terms they regard as acceptable. These provisions are not owed to anyone. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals may not be placed into involuntary servitude to those needing their services. The relationships must be voluntary, no matter how vital those services are to the recipients. pp. 115–125

Keywords: health; medical care; right; value; government regulation; welfare

How to cite: Machan, Tibor R. (2016), “Rights, Values, Regulation and Health Care: To Be Well Is Not a Fundamental Right But a Value,” American Journal of Medical Research 3(2): 115–125.

Received 8 November 2015 • Received in revised form 14 February 2016
Accepted 14 February 2016 • Available online 1 August 2016

doi:10.22381/AJMR3220165