To age is the most natural thing to occur to people. With the age, there are added responsibilities as well as certain obligations. However, legally age is a very important criterion for so many things. Age discrimination has been accepted as a legal way to attain many things on a day to day basis. Even if we do not recognize its implications in everyday life, we are following certain norms depending on our age.

When it comes to certain basic human rights like voting, working or schooling, age factor is the most vital factor considered for validity of these things. While children enjoy certain privileges like reduced fairs, they also are deprived of some basic rights, rightly so because of their immaturity in these areas. But while we consider facts related to elderly, age discrimination most of the times invokes anger from these people. Making this discrimination unlawful, the ADEA (Age Discrimination in Employment Act) pleaded that age discrimination for workers over forty years is unjust act and should be condemned. Though it was restricted for works in certain areas, this law made age discrimination factor more conspicuous over the years.

In the field of medicine, geriatric age group faces age discrimination again that should be condemned by the medical faculty itself but the reverse is true unfortunately. The basic age discrimination that occurs with the old patients is that they are not given apt attention when it comes to some trivial ailment. Even for severe illnesses like cancer, older women or men are spared of critical care and are given only the basic medicinal care. Thus the older patients in the health care system suffer a lot. Poor rapport with the physician in charge or poor attention given by physician considering the advancing age factor as natural process of aging, the older people are always at stake when it comes to health care.

But like many other things, age is also an individualistic thing and does not occur ion everyone with similar pace. So, such age discrimination is condemned at all levels by many people. “Age gracefully and know all your rights” should be the motto of older adults!