of rights concerning their healthcare. the political philosophy behind such an initiative essentially blended ideas of the consumers' bill of rights with the field of healthcare. it was undertaken in an effort to ensure the quality of care of all patients by preserving the integrity of the processes that occur in the healthcare industry. standardizing the nature of healthcare institutions in this manner proved provocative. in fact, many interest groups, including the american medical association (ama) and big pharma came out against the congressional bill. basically, having hospitals provide emergency medical care to anyone, regardless of health insurance status, as well as the right of a patient to hold their health plan accountable for any and all harm done proved to be the two biggest stumbling blocks for the bill. as a result of this intense opposition, the initiative eventually failed to pass congress in 2002. health insurance tommy douglas' (centre left) number one concern was the creation of canadian medicare. in the summer of 1962, saskatchewan became the centre of a hard-fought struggle between the provincial government, the north american medical establishment, and the province's physicians, who brought things to a halt with a doctors' strike. further information: health insurance health insurance is the primary mechanism through which individuals cover healthcare costs in industrialized countries. it can be obtained from either the public or private sector of the economy. in canada, for example, the provincial governments administer public health insurance coverage to citizens and permanent residents. according to health canada, the political philosophy of public insurance in canada is as follows:the administration and delivery of health care services is the responsibility of each province or territory, guided by the provisions of the canada health act. the provinces and territories fund these services with assistance from the federal government in the form of fiscal transfers. and the driving force behind such a political philosophy in canada was democratic socialist politician tommy douglas. contrasting with the u.s., but similar to canada, australia and new zealand have universal healthcare systems known as medicare and acc (accident compensation corporation), respectively. australian medicare originated with health insurance act 1973. it was introduced by prime minister (pm) gough whitlam's labor government, and was intended to provide affordable treatment by doctors in public hospitals for all resident citizens. redesigned by pm bob hawke in 1984, the current medicare system permits citizens the option to purchase private health insurance in a two-tier health system. research and scholarship considering the rapid pace at which the fields of medicine and health science are developing, it becomes important to investigate the most proper and/or efficient methodologies for conducting research. on the whole, "the primary concern of the researcher must always be the phenomenon, from which the research question is derived, and only subsequent to this can decisions be made as to the most appropriate research methodology, design, and methods to fulfill the purposes of the research." this statement on research methodology places the researcher at the forefront of his findings. that is, the researcher becomes the person who makes or breaks his or her scientific inquiries rather than the research itself. even so, "interpretive research and scholarship are creative processes, and methods and methodology are not always singular, a priori, fixed and unchanging." therefore, viewpoints on scientific inquiries into healthcare matters "will continue to grow and develop with the creativity and insight of interpretive researchers, as they consider emerging ways of investigating the complex social world." clinical trials further information: clinical trials clinical trials are a means through which the healthcare industry tests a new drug, treatment, or medical device. the traditional methodology behind clinical trials consists of various phases in which the emerging product undergoes a series of intense tests, most of which tend to occur on interested and/or compliant patients. the u.s. government has an established network for tackling the emergence of new products in the healthcare industry. the food and drug administration (fda) does not conduct trials on new drugs coming from pharmaceutical companies. along with the fda, the national institutes of health sets the guidelines for all kinds of clinical trials relating to infectious diseases. for cancer, the national cancer institute (nci) sponsors a series or cooperative groups like calgb and cog in order to standardize protocols for cancer treatment. u.s. food and drug administration (2006) quality assurance the primary purpose of quality assurance (qa) in healthcare is to ensure that the quality of patient care is in accordance with established guidelines. the government usually plays a significant role in providing structured guidance for treating a particular disease or ailment. however, protocols for treatment can also be worked out at individual healthcare institutions like hospitals and hmos. in some cases, quality assurance is seen as a superfluous endeavor, as many healthcare-based qa organizations, like qarc, are publicly funded at the hands of taxpayers. however, many people would agree that healthcare quality assurance, particularly in the areas cancer treatment and disease control are necessary components to the vitality of any legitimate healthcare system. with respect to quality assurance in cancer treatment scenarios, the quality assurance review center (qarc) is just one example of a qa facility that seeks "to improve the standards of care" for patients "by improving the quality of clinical trials medicine." birth and death reproductive rights further information: abortion the ecophilosophy of garrett hardin is one perspective from which to analyze the reproductive rights of human beings. for the most part, hardin argues that it is immoral to have large families, especially since they do a disservice to society by consuming an excessive amount of resources. in an essay titled the tragedy of the commons, hardin states,to couple the concept of freedom to breed with the belief that everyone born has an equal right to the commons is to lock the world into a tragic course of action. by encouraging the freedom to breed, the welfare state not only provides for children, but also sustains itself in the process. the net effect of such a policy is the inevitability of a malthusian catastrophe. hardin's ecophilosophy reveals one particular method to mitigate healthcare costs. with respect to population growth, the fewer people there are to take care of, the less expensive healthcare will be. and in applying this logic to what medical ethicist leonard j. weber previously suggested, less expensive healthcare does not necessarily mean poorer quality healthcare. birth and living the concept of being "well-born" is not new, and may carry racist undertones. the nazis practiced eugenics in order to cleanse the gene pool of what were perceived to be unwanted or harmful elements. this "race hygiene movement in germany evolved from a theory of social darwinism, which had become popular throughout europe" and the united states during the 1930s. a german phrase that embodies the nature of this practice is lebensunwertes leben or "life unworthy of life." in connection with healthcare philosophy, the theory of natural rights becomes a rather pertinent subject. after birth, man is effectively endowed with a series of natural rights that cannot be banished under any circumstances. one major proponent of natural rights theory was seventeenth-century english political philosopher john locke. with regard to the natural rights of man, locke states,if god's purpose for me on earth is my survival and that of my species, and the means to that survival are my life, health, liberty and property – then clearly i don't want anyone to violate my rights to these things. although partially informed by his religious understanding of the world, locke's statement can essentially be viewed as an affirmation of the right to preserve one's life at all costs. this point is precisely where healthcare as a human right becomes relevant. the process of preserving and maintaining one's health throughout life is a matter of grave concern. at some point in every person's life, his or her health is going to decline regardless of all measures taken to prevent such a collapse. coping with this inevitable decline can prove quite problematic for some people. for enlightenment philosopher rené descartes, the depressing and gerontological implications of aging pushed him to believe in the prospects of immortality through a wholesome faith in the possibilities of reason. death and dying further information: euthanasia one of the most basic human rights is the right to live, and thus, preserve one's life. yet one must also consider the right to die, and thus, end one's life. often, religious values of varying traditions influence this issue. terms like "mercy killing" and "assisted suicide" are frequently used to describe this process. proponents of euthanasia claim that it is particularly necessary for patients suffering from a terminal illness. however, opponents of a self-chosen death purport that it is not only immoral, but wholly against the pillars of reason. in a certain philosophical context, death can be seen as the ultimate existential moment in one's life. death is the deepest cause of a primordial anxiety (die anfechtung) in a person's life. in this emotional state of anxiety, "the nothing" is revealed to the person. according to twentieth-century german philosopher martin heidegger,the nothing is the complete negation of the totality of beings. and thus, for heidegger, humans finds themselves in a very precarious and fragile situation (constantly hanging over the abyss) in this world. this concept can be simplified to the point where at bottom, all that a person has in this world is his or her being. regardless of how individuals proceed in life, their existence will always be marked by finitude and solitude. when considering near-death experiences, humans feels this primordial anxiety overcome them. therefore, it is important for healthcare providers to recognize the onset of this entrenched despair in patients who are nearing their respective deaths. other philosophical investigations into death examine the healthcare's profession heavy reliance on science and technology (scitech). this reliance is especially evident in western medicine. even so, heidegger makes ang allusion to this reliance in what he calls the allure or "character of exactness." in effect, people are inherently attached to "exactness" because it gives them a sense of purpose or reason in a world that is largely defined by what appears to be chaos and irrationality. and as the moment of death is approaching, a moment marked by utter confusion and fear, people frantically attempt to pinpoint a final sense of meaning in their lives. aside from the role that scitech plays in death, palliative care constitutes a specialized area of healthcare philosophy that specifically relates to patients who are terminally ill. similar to hospice care, this area of healthcare philosophy is becoming increasingly important as more patients prefer to receive healthcare services in their homes. even though the terms "palliative" and "hospice" are typically used interchangeably, they are actually quite different. as a patient nears the end of his life, it is more comforting to be in a private home-like setting instead of a hospital. palliative care has generally been reserved for those who have a terminal illness. however, it is now being applied to patients in all kinds of medical situations, including chronic fatigue and other distressing symptoms. role development the manner in which nurses, physicians, patients, and administrators interact is crucial for the overall efficacy of a healthcare system. from the viewpoint of the patients, healthcare providers can be seen as being in a privileged position, whereby they have the power to alter the patients' quality of life. and yet, there are strict divisions among healthcare providers that can sometimes lead to an overall decline in the quality of patient care. when nurses and physicians are not on the same page with respect to a particular patient, a compromising situation may arise. effects stemming from a "gender gap" between nurses and doctors are detrimental to the professional environment of a hospital workspace.