Dr. Gary Merrill, citing his Christian faith, refused to treat the daughter of Tasha Childress. Tasha has tattoos and piercing, both of which are prohibited by Merrill’s faith. The young girl had an ear infection and went the night without medicine as a result of Merrill’s refusal.

It strikes me that Dr. Merrill, as long as he is not in an emergency room, has a right to turn away patients based on his beliefs. However, having had a child with an ear infection, it also strikes me how angry and frustrated I would have been had I been the young girls parents.

It seems – with the benefit of hindsight – that the answer was reasonably simple. The doctor could have treated the young girl – who had done nothing wrong, even if you believe the mother did – and eased her pain, while letting the mother know that she needed to find another physician for the follow up and future visits.

Sometimes we are so quick to take a stand, we lose sight of the more important issues. Shouldn’t the doctor’s commitment to the Hippocratic oath and even to Christian values regarding helping those in need have trumped his concerns regarding a tattooed mother? I am not sure this served his profession or his God in the best way possible.