10.4225/03/5938b46cda99c Olsen, Jan Abel Jan Abel Olsen Richardson, Jeff Jeff Richardson Dolan, Paul Paul Dolan Menzel, Paul Paul Menzel The Moral Relevance of Personal Characteristics in Setting Health Care Priorities Monash University 2017 2002 monash:2626 1959.1/2626 2017-06-08 02:20:27 Journal contribution https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/journal_contribution/The_Moral_Relevance_of_Personal_Characteristics_in_Setting_Health_Care_Priorities/5090425 This paper discusses the moral relevance of accounting for various personal characteristics when prioritising between groups of patients. After a review of the results from empirical studies, we inquire into the ethical reasons which might explain - and justify - the views expressed in these surveys. The paper develops a general framework on the causes of ill health and the consequences of treatment. It goes on to inquire into the extents to which a personal characteristic - and its eventual underlying ethical justification - could have any relationships to these causes and consequences. We attempt to disentangle those characteristics that may reflect a potentially relevant reason from those which violate widely accepted principles of social justice.