That’s right, this doctor said he will soon refuse to treat anyone who is not inoculated against the deadly virus, explaining on Facebook, ‘COVID is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that.’ His Facebook post, which could no longer be viewed as of Wednesday afternoon, included a picture of him standing next to a sign that said his new requirement would take effect October 1. Since posting the message, three unvaccinated patients have asked him where they could receive the vaccine.
About his patients inquiring about his decision, he said, ‘I told them COVID is a miserable way to die and I can’t watch them die like that.’ Dr. Valentine works at Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health in Alabama. He posted a photo of himself on Facebook next to a sign that read, ‘effective Oct. 1, 2021, Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against COVID-19.’
His Facebook post comes as Alabama state remains one of the lowest percentages of state residents in the US that have been vaccinated. To date only 36 percent of Alabama’s population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, far less than the national average of 52 percent.
The doctor from Alabama reportedly explained his decision in a letter to patients:
‘We do not yet have any great treatments for severe disease, but we do have great prevention with vaccines. Unfortunately, many have declined to take the vaccine, and some end up severely ill or dead. I cannot and will not force anyone to take the vaccine, but I also cannot continue to watch my patients suffer and die from an eminently preventable disease.”
Under the Civil Rights Act, doctors can’t deny treatment based on a patient’s age, sex, race, sexual orientation, religion, or national origin, but it’s unclear if a doctor can refuse to treat a patient over vaccination status. Physicians are obliged to treat emergencies, but otherwise they are ‘not ethically required to accept all prospective patients, in certain limited circumstances.’
