This is the latest version of this eprint.
Cookson, R. orcid.org/0000-0003-0052-996X, Tsuchiya, A. and McCabe, C. (2008) Public health care resource allocation and the rule of rescue. Discussion Paper. Journal of Medical Ethics
Abstract
In health care, a tension sometimes arises between the injunction to do as much good as possible with scarce resources and the injunction to rescue identifiable individuals in immediate peril, regardless of cost (the "Rule of Rescue". This tension can generate serious ethical and political difficulties for public policy makers faced with making explicit decisions about the public funding of controversial health technologies, such as costly new cancer drugs. In this paper we explore the appropriate role of the Rule of Rescue in public resource allocation decisions. We consider practical approaches to operationalising the Rule of Rescue from Australia and the UK before examining the relevance of individual moral imperatives to public policy making. We conclude that, whilst public policy makers in a humane society should facilitate exceptional departures from a cost effectiveness norm in clinical decisions about identified individuals, it is not so obvious that they should, as a matter of national public policy, except any one group of unidentified individuals within society from the rules of opportunity cost at the expense of all others.
Metadata
Item Type: | Monograph |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Social Policy and Social Work (York) |
Depositing User: | ScHARR / HEDS (Sheffield) |
Date Deposited: | 15 Jul 2010 09:50 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 11:32 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Journal of Medical Ethics |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:11029 |
Available Versions of this Item
-
Public health care resource allocation and the rule of rescue. (deposited 18 Jun 2010 11:20)
- Public health care resource allocation and the rule of rescue. (deposited 15 Jul 2010 09:50) [Currently Displayed]