Main description:

Budgets of governments and private insurances are limited. Not all drugs and services that appear beneficial to patients or physicians can be covered. Is there a core set of benefits that everyone should be entitled to? If so, how should this set be determined? Are fair decisions just impossible, if we know from the outset than not all needs can be met? While early work in bioethics has focused on clinical issues and a narrow set of principles, in recent years there
has been a marked shift towards addressing broader population-level issues, requiring consideration of more demanding theories in philosophy, political science, and economics. At the heart of bioethics new orientation is the goal of clarity on a complex set of questions in rationing and resource
allocation.

Rationing and Resource Allocation in Healthcare: Essential Readings provides key excerpts from seminal and pertinent texts and case studies about these topics, contextualized by original introductions. The volume is divided into three broad sections: Conceptual Distinctions and Ethical Theory; Rationing; and Resource Allocation. Containing the most important and classic articles surrounding the theoretical and practical issues related to rationing and how to allocate scare medical
resources, this collection aims to assist and inform those who wish to be a part of bioethics' 21st century shift including practitioners and policy-makers, and students and scholars in the health sciences, philosophy, law, and medical ethics.

Contents:

1. General Introduction
PART I: Conceptual Distinctions and Ethical Theory
2.Defining Rationing, Resource Allocation and Priority Setting
3.General Ethical Theory
PART II: Absolute Scarcity: Rationing
4. History of Rationing Scarce Medical Resources
5. Theories and Principles of Rationing
6. Organ Transplantation
7. Vaccine Allocations in Emergencies
PART III: Relative Scarcity: Resource Allocation
8. History of Resource allocation
9. Theories and Principles of Resource Allocation
10. Implementing Principles in Policy and Practice
11. Four Illustrative Cases
12. Ethics of Tiering
13. Priority Setting at the Bedside
14. Personal Responsibility
15. Global Health Priorities