Solidarity, sustainability and medical ethics
In this issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics arguments are cogently made that sustainability and solidarity should be considered as core medical ethical principles, and that more explicit attention should be given to the complex context in which a decision is made.Munthe et al propose that sustain...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
BMJ Publ.
2021
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| In: |
Journal of medical ethics
Year: 2021, Volume: 47, Issue: 2, Pages: 63-64 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In this issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics arguments are cogently made that sustainability and solidarity should be considered as core medical ethical principles, and that more explicit attention should be given to the complex context in which a decision is made.Munthe et al propose that sustainability should become an established principle for justifying healthcare resource allocation, and should be an explicit factor in procuring drugs and other resources.1 They argue that the current operational norms which guide decision making (need, prognosis, equal treatment and cost-effectiveness) can lead to what they call ‘negative dynamics’: the gradual depletion of resource available for healthcare.They illustrate this first by examining some well recognised examples of ‘positive dynamics’ which are considered in health policy: immunisation programmes are funded because lead to reduction or absence of disease in the population, thus freeing up resource for other uses; public health measures are offset by future cost reductions or income increases for healthcare via reduction of sick leave.‘Negative dynamics’ however, are not routinely considered in operational decisions and they persuasively argue that they should be. Resource depletion (not only fiscal resource, but environmental and human resource) has a negative effect on future cycles of healthcare. As an illustrative example, … |
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| ISSN: | 1473-4257 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of medical ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2021-107221 |