In: Nursing
Scenario 5 ?Let me see if I understand you correctly,? Mrs. Burgone said. ?I need a liver transplant, but I?m not allowed to have such an operation?? ?That?s correct,? Dr. Popp said. ?The National Health policy stipulates that transplant surgery cannot be performed on patients over the age of seventy.? Mrs. Burgone shook her head. ?But I don?t expect National Health to pay for it. I?m able to pay for it myself.? ?That doesn?t matter. It?s a matter of social policy, not medicine. The idea is that we can?t afford, as a society, to do everything for every patient. You might be able to pay for such an operation, but not everybody can. Then society would have to pay for those who can?t afford it, and society can?t afford to do that. Consequently, to be fair, the operation is denied to everyone above the age of seventy.? ?That doesn?t seem fair to me,? Mrs. Burgone said. "How can it be fair to condemn someone to pain and greater risk of death when a way of changing this is available?" If there is a national health care program that provides coverage for everyone should there be limitations placed on the availability of coverage based upon age? Would that be morally correct? How would someone respond to this question using the ethical principles of: RULE OF UTILITARIAN?