Abstract:

Several views are presented of the current theories of rationing of medical care for members of society, most notably the elderly. A history of the disposition of the aging ill in societies prior to the industrial age, & of the modern place of the elderly is presented. In looking at the question of medical care for the elderly, the suggestions of Daniel Callahan (Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging Society, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1981) & Norman Daniels (Am I My Parents' Keeper?, New York: Oxford U Press, 1988) are presented, along with the "token" approach suggested by Robert Veatch ("Justice and Economics of Terminal Illness," Hastings Center Report, 1988, Aug-Sept). A more reasonable approach is tendered as a method that can accommodate society in a way that is neither as radical as Callahan's nor as insensitive as Veatch's.