Managing a low-incidence risk: the example of toxic shock syndrome.
This article demonstrates a methodology that allows individuals to reach a personal decision on the use of products which carry very small risks to health and life but also offer considerable benefits. A combination of the principles of dominance, extended dominance, and various methods of direct risk-benefit tradeoffs are shown to reduce the number of possible decisions regarding product use to the one optimal for the value structure of a particular individual. An historical examination of toxic-shock syndrome identifies tampons as a product with risks too small to warrant public intervention but too sizeable to be ignored. The methodology described here can be applied for all such products.
D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D013630:Tampons, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects*