title: The ethics of resource allocation in critical care.
abstract: Increasingly, the ethics of resource allocation is becoming one of the most critical ethical problems faced by critical care decision makers; what is lacking is a framework for analyzing the ethics of decisions in resource allocation. This article examines the four ethical principles--patient-centered beneficence, autonomy, full beneficence, and justice--that can contribute to cost containment/resource allocation.
mesh_terms: D026686:Beneficence; D003363:Cost Control; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D028663:Ethical Theory; D004989:Ethics; D004991:Ethics, Institutional; D006295:Health Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D006801:Humans; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000191:economics; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D018579:Patient Selection; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011367:Professional Staff Committees; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012935:Social Justice; D012945:Social Values; D014600:Utilization Review