Back to Search Start Over

Do not despair about severity—yet

Authors :
Barra, Mathias
Broqvist, Mari
Gustavsson, Erik
Henriksson, Martin
Juth, Niklas
Sandman, Lars
Solberg, Carl Tollef
Source :
Journal of Medical Ethics; 2020, Vol. 46 Issue: 8 p557-558, 2p
Publication Year :
2020

Abstract

In a recent extended essay, philosopher Daniel Hausman goes a long way towards dismissing severity as a morally relevant attribute in the context of priority setting in healthcare. In this response, we argue that although Hausman certainly points to real problems with how severity is often interpreted and operationalised within the priority setting context, the conclusion that severity does not contain plausible ethical content is too hasty. Rather than abandonment, our proposal is to take severity seriously by carefully mapping the possibly multiple underlying accounts to well-established ethical theories, in a way that is both morally defensible and aligned with the term’s colloquial uses.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
03066800 and 14734257
Volume :
46
Issue :
8
Database :
Supplemental Index
Journal :
Journal of Medical Ethics
Publication Type :
Periodical
Accession number :
ejs53859542
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2019-105870