Question

Define and give examples of how medical and social utility are used in the micro allocation of scarce resources

Answer 1

The medical and social utility is used in the macro-allocation of scarce resources as while allocating the scarce resources rationing is done. One such highly publicized instance of resource allocation, the Seattle Artificial Kidney Center’s appointing a committee for deciding who would receive dialysis treatments, in 1962 this was a rare and expensive resource. The first criteria used to determine eligibility was "Likelihood of medical benefit" as many more patients required dialysis than the number of machines that were available. Then the committee turned to "social worth" criteria i.e. tried to weigh the contributions the patients would make to society in case their lives saved in anticipation. Since this sort of evaluation proved very difficult and troubling and highly discriminatory many bioethicists have argued that a "first-come, first-served" criteria should have been more equitable and ethically justifiable.