Can Medicos Forbid Religion?

[Charlemagne_II]

myfoxny.com/dpps/news/offbeat/prescribing-jesus-gets-doctor-censured-dpgonc-km-20110522_13318742

Apparently a British medical association has warned a physician that he must not mention religion as part of the treatment of a patient? What are the implications of this development? Is religion now verboten in the treatment of people suffering from mental disturbance?

Is it now immoral to suggest to patients that they might find solace in religion?

Is it now moral for a scientific profession to discipline one of its members for mentioning religion?

 

[Dale_M]

I think a lot would depend on what actually happened during the consultation. The doctor said that the patient was not offended by his evangelizing, however it seems the doctor was wrong about that. When asked by his mother how the appointment went, the patient replied: “He just said I need Jesus.”

I am not comfortable with the idea of physicians proselytizing their patients during an appointment. However, if the doctor and patient share the same religion (which wasn’t the case in this incident) it might be okay. But the doc should probably be a better judge of people’s emotions than Dr. Scott was during this incident.