Allocation of Limited Resources

You are the editor of a healthcare ethics journal. You receive a submission from a physician and feel compelled to respond. Below is the submission:

"Hello Ethics Expert. I would like your feedback regarding a dilemma that me and my colleagues are often confronted with. Should I retain ventilatory support for a critical patient who is unlikely to survive or use the ventilator for a less critical patient with better prognosis? As much as doctors are bound by the Hippocratic oath that entrusts every doctor to treat all sick patients to the best of their abilities, in times such as these, triaging of finite resources is a pragmatic consideration. Consequently, as frontline health care workers, we often find ourselves in unpleasant situations where we have to make a choice of allocating scant resources for those who need them the most.

If you could please: 1) clearly state the ethical dilemma that we are faced with in terms of resource allocation and patient health outcomes, 2) list the factors, such as patient characteristics, access to care, etc., that we might not be taking into consideration when making a decision on the matter, 3) provide the ethical principles and values that we should consider and apply them to our ethical dilemma to demonstrate how they will help us arrive at an ethical decision. We are thinking of creating a hospital policy on the issue. And finally 4) make a case for resource allocation using two of the eight ethical decision-making models (see Unit 1 module) to help us think through the process of our decision making. I am really looking forward to reading your response!