The unseen face of resource rationalization in medical practice

Abstract

The rationalization of care, leading to lacking medical goods, represents a broad moral geography that encompasses important, often unarticulated social values, as well as dilemmas regarding the nature and purpose of medical care as a social good. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a shortage of intensive care units, prompting health officials to develop or revise protocols for admitting patients to intensive care units. Christian bioethicists argue that the way we choose to allocate medical resources reveals our fundamental beliefs about the obligations we have to the most vulnerable, especially the sick and dying.