The traditional view of medical ethics is that a physician has a duty to his or her individual patient, rather than to society as a whole. Under that view, a physician should not deny a potentially beneficial treatment for one patient, in order to save costs or conserve resources for other current or future patients, or for the patients of any other physician. Should that traditional view of medical ethics be changed? If not, how should we accommodate society’s need to ration care with the physician’s ethical duty to not ration care?

Where it is the physician rather than a plan administrator that traditional physician/patient relationship?
help

"how should we accommodate society’s need to ration care"

Are you sure society has a "need to ration care"? What's the source of that statement?

It is ethics of health care

Is "ethics of health care" a book, an article? Or what? Who is the author?

dean harris

it is describing socialism because its not free not everything comes free?

I disagree with the basic premise about rationing. However, you may find some good information in some of these sites.

http://www.google.com/#q=ethics+of+healthcare+harris+rationing&*

The traditional view of medical ethics places the duty of a physician to his or her individual patient as paramount, meaning that the physician's primary responsibility is to act in the best interest of the patient's health. This principle is often referred to as patient-centered care, and it is based on the belief that the physician-patient relationship should be sacrosanct, with no external influences affecting the physician's decision-making process.

However, there are situations where accommodating society's need to ration care becomes a challenge. In certain cases, there may be limited resources, such as hospital beds, medication, or healthcare personnel, that need to be allocated among different patients. This can lead to difficult ethical dilemmas for physicians who are torn between their individual patient's needs and the greater good of society.

To address this challenge, there have been discussions about whether the traditional view of medical ethics should be updated to consider society's need to ration care. Some argue that a more societal perspective should be incorporated, recognizing that healthcare resources are finite and decisions need to be made to ensure equitable access to care for all patients.

One approach to reconciling the tension between individual patient care and societal needs is through the implementation of ethically grounded guidelines and protocols. Setting clear principles and criteria for treatment allocation can help physicians make difficult decisions in a fair and transparent manner. This could involve prioritizing patients based on factors such as medical need, potential benefit, and the overall impact on public health.

It is important to note that any changes to the traditional view of medical ethics should be approached cautiously to ensure that patient autonomy and the best interests of individual patients are not compromised. It may also require broader societal discussions and involvement to establish a consensus on how to prioritize and allocate healthcare resources in an ethical manner.

Ultimately, finding the right balance between accommodating society's need to ration care and the physician's duty to not ration care is a complex task that involves careful consideration of both ethical principles and practical realities.