368 Farm Ln
East Lansing, MI 48823
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Professor Leonard M. Fleck, Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences & Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University
Just Caring: The Sufficiency Principle and the Needs of the Medically Least Well Off
Who are the “medically least well off”? Very generally, they are patients who have very complex, very costly chronic degenerative conditions, sometimes resulting in a foreseeable death, other times enduring for many years due to costly medical interventions. Do both these groups have equally strong just claims to the health care that they need for disease management and life prolongation? I argue they do not; resources are limited. Sufficientarians are advocates of limits (sometimes translated as ‘adequate’ or ‘basic’ or ‘necessary’ or ‘minimally decent’ health care). Sufficientarians see themselves as friends of the medically least well off. However, I argue that this view is insufficient for addressing the complex problems of health care justice.
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