Resource allocation in ICU: ethical considerations

Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology
Andrew McGuire, Paul C McConnell

Abstract

Increasing scarcity of resources on the background of ever improving medical care and prolonged life expectancy has placed a burden on all aspects of health care. In this article we examine the current problems with resource allocation in intensive care and question whether we can find guidance on appropriate resource allocation through ethical models. The problem of fair and ethical resource allocation has perpetually plagued health care. Recent work has looked at value for money, benefits of therapies and how we define futility, but these still fall victim to the same problems that classical schools of ethical thought have tried to tackle. Many ethical principles provide a framework on which to allocate resources to certain cohorts of patients, however, most appear too rigid to be fully and primarily utilized for intensive care admission. We suggest a collaboration of principles be applied to achieve a moral, ethical and common sense approach to this issue. Over resourcing and under resourcing is also suggested to be problematic for patients and healthcare workers alike.

References

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Sep 1, 2007·Current Opinion in Critical Care·Nathalie EmbriacoElie Azoulay
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Jun 5, 2016·European Journal of Anaesthesiology·Rosaleen Macfadyen, Paul C McConnell
Jul 20, 2017·Journal of Translational Internal Medicine·Gautam RawalRaj Kumar

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Citations

Jun 13, 2020·The Medico-legal Journal·Richard Wm Law, Kartina A Choong
Jan 15, 2020·Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology·Louise DenholmPaul McConnell
Feb 13, 2021·Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine·Eduarda Asfora FrejAdiel Teixeira de Almeida
Apr 10, 2021·Internal Medicine Journal·Sergio VenturiniTiziana Bove
Sep 10, 2021·Journal of Medical Ethics·Jason RandhawaJudy Illes

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