Phase-dependent justification: the role of personal responsibility in fair healthcare. Issue 10 (12th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bærøe, Kristine; Cappelen, Cornelius
• Is Part Of: Journal of medical ethics. Volume 41:Issue 10(2015)
• Page Start: 836
• Page End: 840
• Publication Date: 2015-08-12
• Subjects: Distributive Justice -- Ethics -- Political Philosophy -- Public Policy; Medical ethics -- Periodicals; 174.2
• DOI: 10.1136/medethics-2014-102645
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-6800

Abstract

Abstract : The main aim of this paper is to examine the fairness of different ways of holding people responsible for healthcare-related choices. Our focus is on conceptualisations of responsibility that involve blame and sanctions, and our analytical approach is to provide a systematic discussion based on interrelated and successive health-related, lifestyle choices of an individual. We assess the already established risk-sharing, backward-looking and forward-looking views on responsibility according to a variety of standard objections. In conclusion, all of the proposed views on holding people responsible for their lifestyle choices are subjected to reasonable critiques, although the risk-sharing view fare considerably better than the others overall considered. With our analytical approach, we are able to identify how basic conditions for responsibility ascription alter along a time axis. Repeated relapses with respect to healthcare associated with persistent, unhealthy lifestyle choices, call for distinct attention. In such situations, contextualised reasoning and transparent policy-making, rather than opaque clinical judgements, are required as steps towards fair allocation of healthcare resources.