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.