1. How Canada's Supreme Court Sparked a Patients' Rights Revolution
- Author:
- Jacques Chaoulli
- Publication Date:
- 05-2006
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- Early efforts by Western democracies to restrict freedom of contract were rationalized on the ground that such restrictions were necessary to prevent the suffering of ordinary citizens. People who oppose the freedom to opt out of state-run health insurance schemes turn that rationale on its head: they oppose freedom of contract even when it is necessary to prevent the suffering of ordinary citizens. A recent ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court has helped to restore that freedom and the right of patients to make their own medical decisions.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Canada