title: Medical ethics and the payment of fees before treatment.
abstract: Whether it is ethically acceptable for doctors to require payment of fees before treatment depends on interpretation of the ethical rules of the profession, the circumstances of the doctor-patient relationship, the urgency of the patient's need for treatment, and whether refusal to treat before payment represents abandonment of a patient.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. mcquoidm@ukzn.ac.za
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McQuoid-Mason
mesh_terms: D004638:Emergency Treatment; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005251:Fees, Medical / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations / Q000941:ethics; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000941:ethics