title: Age as a basis for healthcare rationing. Support for agist policies.
abstract: It is inevitable that publicly funded, technically sophisticated medical treatments will be increasingly rationed. Other things being equal, there is a greater duty to use them to prolong the lives of younger than older people. Age is therefore an ethical rationing criterion. Denial of this may actually harm older people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, England.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D011287:Prejudice; D040841:Resource Allocation; D012935:Social Justice; D006113:United Kingdom