tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post633091277955816534..comments2007-05-12T10:05:02.606-07:00Wesley J. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087063614354714652wjs@wesleyjsmith.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-43350377205464427902007-05-12T10:05:00.000-07:002007-05-12T10:05:00.000-07:00"We walk down the quality of life path at the peril of our most weak and vulnerable patients."<BR/><BR/>What's sad is eventually *all* of us will be the most weak and vulnerable patients. People don't think about that until after they get there.T E Finehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02145212330537906750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-76957584157263507702007-05-04T23:01:00.000-07:002007-05-04T23:01:00.000-07:00Anyone read CS Lewis' "That Hideous Strength?" ... The NICE in that book isn't NICE either.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09949709392905584639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-71269862902267396632007-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:002007-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00Bioethics began promoting autonomy most strongly. Often today, the primary thrust is quality of life and utilitarian outcomes. Or to put it another way, for many of these folk, autonomy has its limits if they disagree with the "choice."Wesley J. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00087063614354714652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10381465.post-21859816717334965902007-05-03T11:56:00.000-07:002007-05-03T11:56:00.000-07:00This is pretty amazingly bad. For them to _combine_ it into one figure is particularly bad. They should keep the different aspects (likelihood of improvement, cost, underlying condition) _separate_, because ethical decision-making may depend on them in different ways. This involves imposing their decision-theoretic utilities uniformly on everyone through a single number.Lydia McGrewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00423567323116960820noreply@blogger.com