Social Philosophy and Policy · 2002 · 18 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesEconomicsHealth PolicyHealth EconomicsHealthcare EconomicsResource ScarcityEquity In Health CareHealth ExpectancyLife ExpectancyWelfare EconomicsAllocation Of End-of-life ResourcesJustice In Resource AllocationMedical UtilityUtilitarian EthicsUtilitarian ReasoningUtility-based Allocation
In this essay, I survey egalitarian and utilitarian approaches to the distribution of scarce life-saving medical resources. In my view, the major criterion for the distribution of scarce life-saving medical resources (hereinafter sometimes the “distribution of life”) should be life expectancy: we should distribute life so as to maximize life-years. In Section II, I discuss the life-year maximization approach and situate it within utilitarian theory.